PRELIMINARY  REPORT 

ON  THE 

ELIZABETH  CITY  PLAN 

BY  THE 

CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 


Avery  Architec  tural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


PRELIMINARY  REPORT 

ON  THE 

ELIZABETH  CITY  PLAN 

BY  THE 

CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 


1923 


CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION  MEMBERS 


(Original  Appointees) 
Terms  dated  from  September  15,  IQ22 


E.  D.  MULFORD  Three  Years 

AUGUSTUS  S.  CRANE  Three  Years 

LILIAN  F.  KELLEY  Three  Years 

DENNIS  F.  HENNESSY  Two  Years 

THOMAS  E.  COLLINS  Two  Years 

SHIRAS  CAMPBELL  One  Year 

CHARLES  H.  K.  HALSEY  One  Year 


Augustus  S.  Crane  died  January  9,  1923.  Elwood  W.  Phares  was 
appointed  by  His  Honor,  the  Mayor,  to  fill  the  unexpired  term. 

Shiras  Campbell  and  C.  H.  K.  Halsey  were  reappointed  September  15, 
1923,  for  a  term  of  three  years. 


(Present  Commission) 

E.  D.  MULFORD,  Chairman  Term  expires  Sept.  15,  1925 

DENNIS  F.  HENNESSY,  Secretary  Term  expires  Sept.  15,  1924 

THOMAS  E.  COLLINS  Term  expires  Sept.  15,  1924 

LILIAN  F.  KELLEY  Term  expires  Sept.  15,  1925 

ELWOOD  W.  PHARES  Term  expires  Sept.  15,  1925 

SHIRAS  CAMPBELL   Term  expires  Sept.  15,  1926 

CHARLES  H.  K.  HALSEY  Term  expires  Sept.  15,  1926 


Consulting  Engineers: 
TECHNICAL  ADVISORY  CORPORATION,  NEW  YORK 


BEFORE 


AFTER 


AN  UNSIGHTLY  SPOT  MADE  BEAUTIFUL  AS  A  RESULT  OF  CITY 

PLANNING 


Preface 


This  is  a  preliminary  report.  It  is  not  a  city  plan.  A  comprehensive  plan 
for  the  city  of  Elizabeth  is  not  something  which  can  be  produced  in  one  year. 
It  is  here  attempted  to  discuss  those  major  problems  which  the  city  now  faces, 
to  outline  the  fundamental  data  necessary  for  dealing  with  them,  in  some 
cases  to  narrow  them  down  to  lower  terms,  and  in  certain  other  cases  to 
recommend  policies  or  actions  which  seem  sound,  no  matter  what  may  develop 
in  the  other  studies  necessary  for  a  comprehensive  plan. 

The  Commission's  primary  accomplishment  of  the  year  has  been  the  col- 
lection and  partial  organization  of  a  mass  of  physical  and  statistical  data,  the 
former,  for  the  most  part,  having  been  gathered  by  direct  observation  in  the 
field.  The  mere  task  of  collecting  these  data  was  not  completed  until  about 
the  middle  of  the  year.  It  would  be  interesting  to  exhibit  some  of  them  in 
organized  form,  but,  after  all,  it  is  conclusions  in  which  most  citizens  are 
mainly  interested.  While  this  report,  in  connection  with  many  matters,  stops 
short  of  final  recommendations,  it  does,  nevertheless,  attempt  to  picture  the 
whole  situation.  It  is  thus  the  basis  of  a  program  to  be  now  elaborated. 

Elizabeth  is,  and  will  be,  a  strongly  industrial  and  commercial  city.  It  is 
and  will  be  a  good  place  to  live  in.  It  is  administered  with  exceptional  econ- 
omy, and  no  city  in  the  state  is  better  off  financially.  This  condition  must 
continue.  Elizabeth  is  not  a  rich  city,  and  may  never  be  a  rich  city.  It  has 
large  undertakings  before  it:  the  development  of  through  and  local  traffic 
routes,  the  removal  of  the  Broad  Street  arch,  the  elimination  of  grade  cross- 
ings, an  important  school  building  program,  the  improvement  of  the  Elizabeth 
river,  the  development  of  an  adequate  water  supply  and  of  adequate  sewage 
disposal  facilities.  The  magnitude  of  these,  in  the  aggregate,  is  staggering. 
All  of  them  will  be  necessary ;  many  of  them  will  be  necessary  soon.  Unless 
they  are  co-ordinated  and  planned  in  proper  sequence,  the  city  will  struggle 
under  heavy  taxation  and  a  load  of  debt.  It  is  believed  that  they  can  be  so 
co-ordinated  as  to  prevent  this. 

About  40  per  cent  of  the  city's  area  is  waste  land,  and  yet  Elizabeth  is 
getting  to  be  a  crowded  city.  The  meadow  lands  constitute  a  handicap.  They 
can  be  converted  into  an  opportunity.  The  time  for  such  conversion  is  not 
far  distant. 

While  Elizabeth  plans  for  the  distant  future  and  faces  these  large  prob- 
lems, some  of  which  are  not  in  the  very  distant  future,  the  growth  of  the  city 
should  be  directed.  It  is  an  old,  historic  town ;  a  typical  American  town,  of  the 
kind  rarely  found  outside  New  England  and  New  Jersey.  The  Elizabeth  of 
the  future  should  express  the  American  spirit. 

November,  1923. 


5 


BEFORE 


AFTER 


AN  EXAMPLE  OF  CITY  PLANNING  WHICH  COULD  WELL  BE  FOL- 
LOWED IN  ELIZABETH 


CONTENTS 


The  True  Conception  of  City  Planning   9 

Elizabeth,  the  City  and  its  People   11 

Health   17 

Public  Equipment  and  Facilities 

Waste  Disposal — Public  Utilities — Fire  Protection — Police   19 

Elizabeth's  Street  System   23 

Railroads      29 

Education  in  Elizabeth   32 

The  Operation  of  the  City   34 

Can  Elizabeth  ever  be  a  City  Beautiful?   37 

Waste  Lands  in  the  City  of  Elizabeth   40 

The  Next  Step  in  City  Planning  for  Elizabeth   46 


The  True  Conception  of  City  Planning 


Some  Misconceptions  Corrected — City  Planning  a 
Business  Proposition 

City  planning  is  one  of  the  most  practical  things  in  the  world. 

Not  many  years  ago,  it  was  understood  by  the  layman  to  have  to  do  prin- 
cipally with  the  creation  of  a  "city  beautiful." 

Vague  talk  about  a  "city  beautiful"  fails  to  appeal  to  business  men  and 
women.  There  are  several  attributes  which  a  city  should  have,  as  well  as,  and 
perhaps,  in  advance  of,  beauty.  A  city  should  be  honest  and  solvent.  It  should 
be  healthful,  its  streets  should  be  reasonably  safe,  its  buildings  should  not  be 
fire  traps,  its  sewage  should  be  disposed  of  in  a  modern  and  proper  manner. 
Congestion  and  the  excessive  death  rate  resulting  therefrom  should  be  avoided. 
The  city  should  be  well  policed  and  should  have  a  dependable  fire  department. 
Vice  and  crime  should  be  under  control.  Street  car  or  bus  transportation 
should  be  adequate,  comfortable  and  economical.  In  all  of  the  various  factors 
which  affect  the  cost  of  living  to  the  individual  a  city  should  be  efficient  and 
enterprising. 

When  all  of  these  things  have  been  taken  care  of,  or  at  least,  not  before 
they  are  being  taken  care  of,  should  the  weight  of  emphasis  be  placed  on  the 
beautification  of  the  city. 

When  we  speak  of  city  planning,  we  are  not  proposing  something  which 
is  new,  but  only  a  different  method  of  doing  something  which  is  in  part,  at 
least,  being  done  already. 

Many  people  think  that  city  planning  means,  if  not  extravagance,  at 
least  accelerated  expenditure  of  municipal  funds.  It  means  no  such  thing. 
City  planning  does  not  determine  the  rate  of  expenditure  of  municipal  funds, 
or  the  tax  rate,  or  the  amount  of  indebtedness  which  a  city  should  assume.  It 
may  and  does  furnish  data  from  which  these  things  can  be  wisely  determined  ; 
but  it  leaves  the  determination  where  it  is  now,  a  matter  for  the  citizens  them- 
selves, through  their  elected  representatives.  When  they  have  once  made  the 
determination,  then  the  city  plan  adjusts  itself  to  the  limitations  imposed. 

The  city  planning  method  eliminates  duplication  of  work.  It  is  itself 
recognized  as  a  great  co-ordinating  movement.  It  is  always  carried  on  with  the 
full  knowledge  and  co-operation  of  the  city  engineer,  the  public  service  inter- 
ests, commercial  organizations,  and  all  others  likely  to  be  involved  in  municipal 
problems.  All  of  these  know  of  the  data  accumulated  by  the  planners.  The 
city  planning  data  must  be  comprehensive  and  complete.  No  city  planning 
program  is  worth  its  salt  which  does  not  insist  from  the  very  beginning  on  an 

9 


absolutely  inclusive  scheme  of  observing,  compiling  and  recording  the  physical 
features  about  the  city.  All  departments  will  look  upon  comprehensive  city 
planning  as  a  final  source  for  all  the  data  they  need.  City  planning  implies  the 
substitution,  in  one  place,  of  correct  and  adequate  primary  data,  for  the 
existence  (often  unsuspected)  in  various  places,  of  always  inadequate  and 
variably  correct  data.  The  city  planning  office  is  the  clearing  house  of  munici- 
pal, civic  and  utility  information. 

It  has  been  said  that  city  planning  does  not  mean  more  spending.  It  is 
quite  certain  that  it  means  better  spending.  If  there  is  any  general  principle 
underlying  municipal  expenditure  at  the  moment  it  is  that  of  keeping  down 
expenses  but  yielding  where  the  pressure  is  greatest.  A  proper  program  should 
pay  no  attention  to  pressure.  With  the  aid  of  the  fundamental  physical  data 
it  is  possible  to  determine  where  the  need  is  greatest. 

For  each  undertaking  on  the  municipal  program  there  should  be  estimated 
the  probable  benefit,  tangible  or  intangible.  With  sufficient  estimates  of  cost 
always  in  mind,  it  is  then  possible  to  determine  the  relative  importance  of 
various  projects  to  the  community,  and  the  city  will  not  spend  money  for 
new  street  lights,  merely  because  the  proposal  for  such  lights  is  in  tangible  and 
concrete  form,  when  it  needs  sewers  infinitely  more  than  it  does  lights.  Under 
the  orthodox  type  of  city  administration  there  is  in  many  cities  no  real  co-ordi- 
nation of  departmental  estimates  or  adjustment  of  these  estimates  to  the  city's 
resources,  excepting  that  adjustment  which  can  be  given  by  the  Mayor  or  some 
other  non-professional  official  or  body.  This  is  not  adequate.  There  should  be 
a  genuinely  professional  reconciliation  and  adjustment  of  conflicting  plans  and 
it  is  just  at  this  point  that  the  city  planning  program  has  its  maximum  value. 

Officials  and  organizations  may  plan  wisely,  economically  and  soundly. 
It  is  now  proposed  to  plan  all  along  the  line  at  once  so  as  to  produce  a  sym- 
metrical development. 

A  monumental  city  hall  with  ramshackle  schools  is  not  a  credit  to  a  city. 
It  invites  criticism.  The  city  should  not  lose  sight  of  its  other  interests  while 
concentrating  on  one.  It  should  keep  the  variety  of  its  needs  in  mind  all  the 
time  and  there  should  be  a  recognized  order  of  urgency  according  to  which  its 
various  projects  will  be  consummated.  It  should  look  ahead,  so  that  when 
large  improvements  are  clearly  desirable  but  are  not  now  practicable,  there 
may  be  some  forecasting  of  the  date  when  they  will  be  practicable. 

There  is  a  tendency,  more  than  a  tendency  perhaps,  in  all  cities,  for 
municipal  expenditure  to  increase,  both  absolutely  and  relatively.  Some  parts 
of  the  growing  expenditure  are  due  to  the  determination  of  the  people  to  have 
certain  things  which  they  did  not  formerly  have.  But  after  all,  it  is  not  more 
spending  that  the  city  planner  looks  toward.  It  is  better  spending;  getting 
more  for  a  dollar ;  spending  when  we  can  best  afford  to  spend ;  spending  for 
the  things  we  need  most  at  the  moment,  and  planning  ahead  for  those  things 
which  at  the  moment  we  cannot  have. 


in 


Elizabeth,  the  City  and  Its  People 


City  planning  for  Elizabeth  has  a  background  which  is  the  result  of  forces 
historical,  material  and  social.  Elizabeth  is  an  old  city,  as  American  cities  go. 
It  celebrated  its  first  centennial  some  years  before  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill, 
and  fifty  years  before  that  time  its  citizens  were  complaining  of  high  town 
taxes.  In  Elizabeth  is  the  King's  Highway — the  oldest  road  in  New  Jersey. 
Even  the  railroads  of  the  city  date  back  to  1834,  which  was  almost  the  begin- 
ning year  of  railroading  in  the  United  States.  The  only  bridge  link  between 
New  York  and  New  Jersey  starts  from  Elizabeth. 

The  early  land  grants  which  included  what  is  now  the  city  of  Elizabeth 
placed  the  western  boundary  of  the  tract  at  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Land  was 
conveyed  generously  in  those  days,  and  it  required  nearly  two  centuries  to 
straighten  out  the  question  of  real  estate  titles.  Today,  building  lots  are  looked 
upon  as  normally  25  by  100  or  possibly  50  by  150  feet  in  dimensions;  but  in 
the  early  days  of  Elizabeth,  the  standard  house  lot  was  four  acres  with  two 
acres  of  meadow  land  thrown  in. 

The  early  settlers  came  from  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island.  They  found 
a  fertile  spot  intersected  by  a  network  of  brooks  along  the  courses  of  which 
many  of  the  present  sewers  find  their  way.  The  settlers  probably  found  the 
climate  much  as  it  is  today.  Here  on  the  Red  Sandstone  Plain,  sheltered  by 
the  Orange  Mountains  and  close  to  salt  water,  the  average  frost  dates  are 
April  18th  and  October  24th.  The  prevailing  wind  is  northwest  in  winter  and 
southwest  in  summer.  The  average  annual  rainfall  is  47.87  inches,  including 
a  snowfall  (not  reduced)  of  38.7  inches.  The  average  annual  temperature  is 
52.5  degrees.  Over  a  40-year  period,  the  mean  maximum  monthly  temperature 
has  been  from  37.9  degrees  to  86.2  degrees,  and  the  mean  minimum  from  21.1 
degrees  to  64.4  degrees.  In  an  average  year,  in  this  neighborhood,  there  are 
247  days  with  less  than  1/100  inch  of  precipitation,  September  having  the 
most  of  these  days  and  March  the  fewest.  Rainfall  intensities  exceeding  one 
inch  occur  only  38  times  in  an  average  year. 

About  one-third  of  the  whole  area  of  Elizabeth  is  less  than  five  feet  above  " 
tidewater  datum.  Less  than  three  per  cent  of  the  area  rises  to  an  elevation 
exceeding  50  feet.  The  highest  spot,  75  feet,  is  near  the  northwesterly  city 
line.  The  topography  is  flat,  particularly  east  of  the  Elizabeth  River.  Slopes 
exceeding  four  per  cent  rarely  occur.  The  average  slope  of  the  whole  length 
of  the  river  below  the  reservoir  is  only  eight  feet  per  mile. 

Elizabeth's  flat  surface  is  favorable  to  business  and  industry.  It  leads  to 
easy  street  grades  and  facilitates  fire  protection  and  safety  on  the  streets.  It 
simplifies  the  planning  of  street  transportation  and  the  construction  of  rail- 


11 


GROWTH  OF  POPULATION  IN  ELIZABETH. 

Elizabeth  has  grown  in  an  orderly  way  up  to  a  population  just  over  100,000.    If  a 
similar  symmetrical  growth  occurs  for  the  next  80  years  the 
population  on  the  present  area  will  be  about  180,000. 


12 


ways.  On  the  other  hand,  it  makes  sewer  construction  costly  and  complicated 
and  causes  the  elimination  of  grade  crossings  to  be  an  expensive  undertaking. 

Even  in  its  present  undrained  and  unimproved  condition  the  meadows 
area  is  not  detrimental  to  the  health  of  the  city.  Some  of  the  heaviest  indus- 
tries in  Elizabeth  are  located  on  the  edge  of  this  area.  The  upland  soil  of 
Elizabeth  is  glacial  drift,  generally  suitable  for  any  reasonable  foundation 
loads.  There  are  occasional  occurrences  of  quicksand.  Underground  waters 
are  well  distributed. 

The  population  of  Elizabeth  by  the  census  of  1920  was  95,783 ;  of  whom 
52  per  cent  were  males.  The  excess  of  males  is  localized  among  the  foreign- 
born  population  of  the  older  age  groups.  The  City  Plan  Commission  esti- 
mates the  1923  population  at  102,500.  Elizabeth  is  the  sixth  city  in  the  state 
and  the  73rd  in  the  United  States.  A  projected  population  curve  indicates  a 
probable  population  by  the  year  1938  of  about  134,000  and  an  ultimate  popu- 
lation on  the  present  area  of  about  186,000.  These  figures  are  lower  than  some 
which  have  been  advanced  but  they  seem  to  be  those  best  warranted  by  a 
study  of  the  city's  past  growth  and  of  the  growth  curves  of  other  cities. 

Elizabeth  contains  just  about  half  the  people  in  Union  County.  Prac- 
tically the  whole  of  the  county  lies  between  two  circles  described  about  the 
New  York  Municipal  Building  with  radii  of  10  and  20  miles  respectively. 
The  density  of  population  in  the  county  is  3.03  and  in  the  city  15.6  persons 
per  acre.  The  only  counties  in  New  Jersey  having  a  denser  population  than 
Union  County  are  Essex  and  Hudson,  but  Elizabeth  and  Union  County  are 
by  no  means  congested.  In  fact,  Fort  Lee,  the  southern  portions  of  Staten 
Island  and  Elizabeth,  are  the  most  sparsely  populated  areas  within  their  dis- 
tances of  the  southern  tip  of  Manhattan  Island.  If,  however,  Elizabeth's 
population  density  were  taken  on  the  basis  of  its  occupied  area,  eliminating  the 
meadows  and  the  river  marsh,  a  more  truthful  picture  of  the  situation  would 
result. 

Union  County  is  growing  rapidly.  During  the  last  census  decade  its 
population  increased  at  a  rate  which  was  surpassed  in  New  Jersey  only  by 
that  exhibited  in  the  case  of  Bergen  County.  No  other  county  in  the  state 
has  had  such  sustained  and  uniform  rapidity  of  growth.  Its  rural  population  is 
increasing  faster  than  that  of  any  other  county  in  New  Jersey. 

Because  of  their  relation  to  many  features  of  the  city  planning  program, 
it  is  proposed  to  make  a  detailed  study  of  the  densities  of  population  of  the 
various  wards  of  Elizabeth  and  even  of  portions  of  such  wards. 

Less  than  half  of  the  city's  area  is  completely  developed  at  the  present 
time  in  the  sense  of  being  supplied  with  all  municipal  and  utility  facilities. 
More  than  one-third  of  it  is  totally  undeveloped.  The  sections  totally  unde- 
veloped comprise  not  only  the  meadows  and  the  river  banks  but  desirable  prop- 
erties east  of  Magie  Road,  north  of  Alina  Street  and  along  the  Linden  town- 
ship boundary.  Much  building  continues  to  occur  in  the  fully  developed  sec- 
tions and  the  building  of  the  last  year,  since  the  enactment  of  the  zoning  ordi- 


13 


nance*  is  of  a  definitely  favorable  type.  Recent  building  permits  show  a 
preponderance  of  residential  construction,  notably  in  the  Elmora  section. 
There  is  also  much  activity  east  of  Jefferson  Avenue  and  toward  the  eastern 
end  of  Fairmount  Avenue,  where  lots  may  still  be  obtained  at  low  prices. 

One  of  the  undertakings  which  the  City  Plan  Commission  has  set  for 
itself  for  1924  is  the  preparation  of  future  population  distribution  maps.  These 
are  almost  the  foundation  of  city  planning.  A  distribution  map  of  this  kind 
has  been  made  for  the  year  1921 ;  but  in  connection  with  the  selection  of  sites 
for  future  schools,  fire  houses,  branch  libraries  and  many  other  public  struc- 
tures or  facilities,  maps  of  this  sort,  as  conjectured  for  various  future  dates,  are 
essential. 

Elizabeth  is  a  melting  pot.  Although  it  increased  from  1910  to  1920,  the 
percentage  of  native  whites  is  abnormally  low  for  a  New  Jersey  city.  Less 
than  40  per  cent  of  the  people  are  native  whites  born  of  native  parentage. 
This  is  a  condition  which  is  temporary,  especially  in  view  of  the  present 
restrictions  on  immigration.  A  school  census,  for  example,  shows  that  even 
in  the  most  "foreign"  sections  of  the  city  90  per  cent  of  the  children  are  native 
born.  In  the  same  sections,  only  15  per  cent  of  the  children  have  American 
born  fathers.  The  composition  of  the  foreign-born  element  is  also  changing  its 
proportions.  In  numerical  order  the  leading  elements  in  the  foreign-born  popu- 
lation are  Polish,  Italian,  German,  Russian  and  Irish.  In  the  school  census, 
the  Polish  and  German  elements  occupy  a  much  less  conspicuous  rank.  The 
matter  of  nationality  distribution  has  been  made  the  subject  of  a  graphic  map 
which,  however,  should  be  brought  up-to-date  in  the  near  future  as  a  part  of 
the  investigation  into  various  phases  of  the  city  plan,  only  two  of  which  need 

*The  zoning  ordinance  was  Elizabeth's  first  step  in  city  planning.  It  was  enacted 
February  7,  1922,  so  that  the  city  has  now  had  21  months'  experience  with  it.  Those 
who  know  most  about  its  operation  and  effects  have  gone  on  record  as  to  the  benefit 
which  it  has  brought  about.  The  only  amendments  thus  far  enacted  are  that  of  August 
13,  1923,  which,  however,  modifies  the  original  ordinance  in  eleven  of  its  features, 
and  that  of  November  5,  1923,  which  re-districts  the  corner  of  North  Broad  Street  and 
Pingry  Place.  These  amendments  have  developed  after  long  consideration  and  obser- 
vation of  the  actual  working  of  the  ordinance.  They  were  passed  unanimously  by  the 
City  Council.  The  general  effect  on  the  appearance  of  the  building  zone  map  is 
scarcely  perceptible.  It  may  reasonably  be  expected,  as  in  New  York  City,  that  with 
the  passage  of  time  the  number  of  amendments  toward  relaxation  of  the  ordinance 
will -decrease,  while  the  number  toward  the  further  restriction  will  increase.  There 
has  been  no  litigation  thus  far  in  connection  with  the  zoning  ordinance. 

Much  of  the  building  activity  of  1922  and  1923  has  been  in  residence  building  in 
fully  developed  districts,  where  there  are  still  many  vacant  lots.  There  has  been  no 
perceptible  push  of  residence  building  at  the  edge  of  the  meadows.  Lots  at  reasonable 
prices  are  available  in  good  sections  near  transportation  lines,  and  the  meadows,  as 
all  citizens  know,  have  been  set  aside  for  industrial  building.  Only  six  manufacturing 
plants  were  erected  in  Elizabeth  in  1922.  None  of  them  was  of  great  magnitude.  The 
objectionable  combined  store  and  dwelling  building,  of  which  Elizabeth  has  had  so 
many,  had  only  18  examples  in  that  year  out  of  a  total  of  92+  permits.  During  the 
same  year  ,  about  40  per  cent  of  all  permits  granted  were  for  private  garages,  prac- 
tically all  of  which  were  erected  concurrently  with  residences  or  on  lots  already  occu- 
rred by  residences. 

The  months  following  the  enactment  of  the  zoning  ordinance  have  thus  not  only 
exhibited  satisfactory  building  activity  from  the  standpoint  of  volume,  but  the  tlass 
of  buildings  has  been  of  a  highly  desirable  type. 

14 


be  mentioned  here,  viz.,  housing  and  illiteracy.  With  respect  to  housing, 
Elizabeth  has  4.63  persons  per  family  and  1.58  families  per  dwelling;  both 
figures  being  high  on  any  comparative  basis*.  A  ward  tabulation  on  this 
point  is  needed,  as  well  as  for  the  further  consideration  of  illiteracy.  It  is 
somewhat  surprising,  although  most  gratifying,  to  find  Elizabeth's  illiteracy 
record  at  6.4  against  10.6  for  the  urban  population  of  the  state  as  a  whole. 
Good  as  the  city's  record  is  in  this  respect  it  can  and  will  be  improved,  since 
the  illiteracy  figure  for  the  foreign-born  -white  population  is  16,  as  against  the 
state  average  figure  of  6.8.  The  very  large  opportunity  which  exists  for  pro- 
gressive Americanization  work  among  adults  is  apparent. 

While  Elizabeth  is  a  strongly  industrial  city,  it  is  not  industrial  to  any 
such  extent  as  cities  like  Providence  and  Paterson.  Both  Newark  and  Eliza- 
beth are  (proportionately)  manufacturing  cities  not  wholly  devoted  to  manu- 
facturing. Elizabeth  might  well  have  more  factories,  even,  than  it  has  now. 
The  right  type  of  factories  should  be  encouraged  to  come  to  Elizabeth.  Their 
value  is  great  and  direct.  In  another  city  where  the  subject  was  quantitatively 
analyzed,  it  was  found  that  the  coming  of  an  average  manufacturing  plant 
meant  to  the  local  lumber  dealers  (this  group  being  taken  as  an  example)  an 
increased  margin  (not  sales,  but  gross  profit)  of  $4,500  yearly  for  an  indefinite 
period.  Such  benefits  do  result  and  the  type  of  industry  which  is  likely  to 
grow  is  a  particularly  desirable  one  to  invite.  No  one  in  Elizabeth  would 
favor  any  form  of  direct  financial  subsidy  to  new  industries.  The  better  indus- 
tries do  not  expect  it.  Immaterial  subsidies  in  the  way  of  a  friendly  attitude 
on  the  part  of  the  municipal  administration  and  on  the  part  of  other  indus- 
trial and  commercial  interests  are  all  that  are  necessary.  Elizabeth's  Chamber 
of  Commerce  may  be  depended  upon  to  manifest  such  a  spirit  of  hospitality 
toward  any  proposed  new  industry. 

Elizabeth  is  a  commercial  city.  Twenty-five  families  can  support  a  store. 
The  larger  establishments  derive  their  support  from  other  sources  in  addition 
to  those  which  are  purely  local. 

Union  County  has  very  few  farms  and  very  little  farm  land.  A  large 
proportion  of  farms  are  operated  by  those  of  foreign  birth.  Elizabeth  is  a 
junction  point  through  which  pass  the  farm  products  of  Middlesex  and  Mon- 
mouth Counties,  both  strongly  agricultural.  In  fact,  Monmouth  County  pro- 
duces the  maximum  of  total  crops  and  the  maximum  of  vegetable  crops  of  anv 
county  in  the  state.  The  question  of  a  market  or  markets  for  Elizabeth  should 
have  attention.  The  city  operates  two  stand  markets  from  which  it  derives 
fees  representing  12,000  stands  per  year.  Aside  from  the  facilities  of  the  pack- 
ing company  plants,  there  is  no  cold  storage  in  the  city. 

The  Elizabeth  background,  then,  in  its  broader  outlines,  is  this:  A  his- 
torical town,  bound  to  remain  an  important  manufacturing  and  trading  cen- 
ter, having  many  natural  advantages  and  one  or  two  sweeping  handicaps ;  sub- 
jected, until  the  recent  past,  to  a  large  influx  of  alien  elements,  this  influx 

•Persons  per  new  residence  building  erected,  during  1909-1922,  8.1  ;  during  1922, 
7.8.  Residence  building  in  1922  provided  for  1,235  individuals  in  one-family  houses; 
2,040  in  two-family  flats,  and  265  in  tenements  or  apartment  houses. 


15 


now  strongly  checked  and  Americanization  going  on  vigorously,  with  oppor- 
tunities for  completing  and  perfecting  such  Americanization  so  as,  in  the  near 
future,  to  place  Elizabeth  in  this  respect  in  the  very  first  rank  among  cities  of 
the  state.  New  Jersey  is  not  in  the  habit  of  gloating  over  its  monuments  as 
do  some  of  the  New  England  states;  but  Elizabeth  is  a  monument.  It  is  an 
impressive  city.  It  has  been  and  will  continue  to  be  a  characteristic  American 
city. 


16 


Health 


Elizabeth  is  a  healthy  city,  and  it  is  quite  steadily  growing  healthier.  The 
1922  death  rate  was  9.97,  the  lowest  on  record  except  that  of  1921  (9.13), 
when  Elizabeth  was  the  healthiest  city  of  its  class  in  the  state. 

The  distribution  of  deaths,  in  proportion  to  population,  should  be  care- 
fully scrutinized.  In  a  large  New  England  city,  it  was  discovered  that  the 
difference  between  the  city  average  death  rate  and  that  in  the  best  ward 
amounted  to  four  deaths  per  thousand  population  yearly.  On  this  basis,  there 
would  be  four  hundred  preventable  deaths  annually  in  Elizabeth.  There  is  no 
subject  in  the  whole  field  of  city  planning  that  can  compare  in  importance  with 
this.  It  involves  housing,  zoning,  street  conditions,  health  department  organ- 
ization, the  sanitary  code  and  many  other  city  activities  or  institutions. 

Elizabeth's  birth  rate  increased  over  the  period  from  1911  to  1917,  and 
has  since  been  swinging  downward  to  23.12  in  1922.  The  excess  of  births 
over  deaths  accounts  for  about  two-thirds  of  the  present  annual  increase  in 
population.  Hence,  there  is  still  a  considerable  amount  of  influx. 

Elizabeth's  infant  mortality  rate,  a  figure  that  is  almost  an  index  to 
civilization,  has  been  very  steadily  declining.  In  twelve  years,  it  has  been 
reduced  about  70  per  cent.  The  child  welfare  activities  and  the  milk  inspection 
program  of  the  health  department  are  worth  a  great  deal  to  the  city.  For 
two  years,  Elizabeth  has  held  the  state  record  for  attendance  at  "baby-keep- 
well"  stations,  and  seventeen  mothers  have  received  state  prizes. 

Elizabeth's  tuberculosis  rate  is  somewhat  less  gratifying,  and  it  is  believed 
that  an  investigation  by  individual  wards  should  be  made  early  next  year, 
with  a  view  to  drawing  possible  conclusions  with  respect  to  new  housing.  A 
tuberculosis  spot  map  could  be  prepared  to  show  the  correlation  of  this  disease 
with  congestion.  Such  a  map  might  well  startle  many  of  the  citizens  of 
Elizabeth. 

For  five  years  past,  Elizabeth  has  had  the  lowest  typhoid  fever  rate  among 
the  six  New  Jersey  cities  with  which  it  is  compared. 

The  City  Health  Department  maintains  doctors  and  nurses  for  the  medi-  • 
cal  inspection  of  parochial  schools.  The  medical  service  of  the  public  schools 
is  under  the  control  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

The  sanitary  code  was  adopted  in  1913.  Its  provisions  with  respect  to 
plumbing  and  drainage  seem  more  or  less  incidental.  Some  expansion  and 
modernization  of  the  code  is  desirable. 

Elizabeth  has  three  hospitals  (Elizabeth  General,  St.  Elizabeth's  and 
Alexian  Brothers'),  besides  the  isolation  hospital,  and  a  maternity  nursing 
home.  Nearly  two-thirds  of  all  patients  are  free  patients.  The  hospitals,  in 
general,  are  scarcely  adequate  for  the  population  of  the  city  on  a  modern, 

17 


liberal  basis,  particularly  in  view  of  the  fact  that  certain  neighboring  com- 
munities must  depend  on  Elizabeth  for  hospital  facilities. 

Intimately  related  to  the  subject  of  health  is  that  of  charities  activities. 
Probably  few  people  in  Elizabeth  realize  the  multifarious  ways  in  which  needy 
citizens  are  served  by  the  Department  of  Charities.  These  include  not  alone 
the  actual  spending  of  municipal  funds  for  relief,  but  the  management  of 
private  funds,  as  in  cases  of  non-support. 

Like  most  industrial  cities,  Elizabeth  suffers  at  times  and  in  places  from 
smoke  and  fume  pollution  in  the  atmosphere.  With  all  possible  consideration 
for  the  manufacturing  plants  and  with  full  recognition  of  recent  conditions  of 
coal  supply,  the  mitigation  of  this  evil  should  be  kept  prominently  in  view  for 
early  attention.  Such  mitigation  must  apply  to  the  railroads  as  well  as  the 
factories. 


18 


Public  Equipment  and  Facilities 


Municipal  Waste  Disposal 

The  street  cleaning  and  snow  removal  work  of  the  city  have  been  satis- 
factory. The  garbage  collection  contract  expires  in  May,  1924.  More  atten- 
tion should  be  given  to  the  contract  requirements  that  dumps  be  kept  level  and 
graded.  The  new  contract  should  arrange  for  the  covering  of  garbage  at  the 
dumps  and  should  completely  specify  routes  and  collecting  schedules.  Such 
contract  should  not  exceed  two  or  three  years'  duration  because,  by  the  expira- 
tion of  such  time,  it  may  probably  be  necessary  to  require  the  complete  separa- 
tion of  garbage  from  ashes  and  refuse. 

Sewage  disposal  is  going  to  be  increasingly  expensive.  The  program  no-w 
being  carried  out  will  give  the  city  complete  sewage  facilities  and  will  require 
a  considerable  appropriation  of  funds  for  several  years  to  come,  but  it  neces- 
sarily involves  syphons,  more  pumping  and,  ultimately,  treatment;  the  last 
probably  within  20  years.  Expense  will  be  minimized  by  the  gradual  develop- 
ment of  separate  sewers  in  many  parts  of  the  city  for  sanitary  sewage  and 
storm  water.  Storm  water  discharge  to  the  Elizabeth  River  will  do  little 
harm  but  sanitary  sewage  should  be  entirely  excluded. 

The  resewering  and  repaving  programs  will  continue  to  require  careful 
co-ordination. 

The  recommended  sites  for  the  erection  of  treating  plants  in  the  report 
of  Mr.  Fuertes,  consulting  engineer  on  sewage  disposal,  are  approved : 
namely,  Seventh  Street  and  Humboldt  Avenue  and  the  south  side  of  Trenton 
Avenue,  west  of  the  river.  The  Amboy  Avenue  site  is  disapproved  on  account 
of  its  proximity  to  a  probable  approach  to  the  new  bridge  from  First  Street. 

The  Humboldt  Avenue  site  will  take  care  of  sanitary  drainage  from  the 
meadows  when  the  latter  are  developed.  Storm  water  should  be  drained  there- 
from separately,  probably  through  ditches  with  tide  gates.  By  the  time  these 
facilities  are  needed,  all  sanitary  discharges  to  the  Great  Ditch  or  to  other 
parts  of  the  meadows  area  should  be  discontinued. 

A  portion  of  the  city's  sewerage  will  always  be  handled  by  combined 
sewers.  Complete  separate  systems  would  involve  too  much  tearing  up  of  good 
paving  to  be  contemplated.  Where  the  sewage  is  combined  it  will  have  to  be 
discharged  elsewhere  than  to  the  Elizabeth  River  and  the  cost  of  treatment 
will  naturallv  be  greater  than  where  sanitarv  sewage  onlv  is  treated.  In  view 
of  the  magnitude  of  the  sewage  problem  in  Elizabeth  as  forecasted  for  the 
indefinite  future,  no  sewage  from  outside  of  the  city  should  be  allowed  to  come 
into  the  city's  sewers. 

Public  Utilities 

Reference  is  elsewhere  made  to  the  inadequacy  of  Elizabeth's  water  sup- 
ply.  Since  this  question  is  being  thoroughly  studied  by  a  special  committee 


10 


appointed  by  the  City  Council  and  a  final  report  is  soon  to  be  submitted,  the 
City  Plan  Commission  merely  remarks  that  whatever  plan  is  agreed  upon 
should  look  ahead  many  years.  The  problem  is  essentially  a  regional  one  but 
individual  cities  must  conserve  their  own  interests  while  co-operating  and 
participating  in  the  regional  point  of  view. 

The  progressive  installation  of  water  meters  should  continue  until  all 
services  in  Elizabeth  are  fully  metered.  The  per  capita  daily  consumption  of 
water  is  high.  Cement  lined  pipe  should  be  completely  replaced  by  cast  iron 
pipe  as  rapidly  as  possible  in  co-ordination  with  paving  and  repaving.  Four- 
inch  mains  should  be  replaced  by  larger  pipes  as  rapidly  as  practicable.  Eight- 
inch  should  be  the  minimum  size  of  pipe  except  occasionally  for  the  closure  of 
loops  where  six-inch  is  permissible. 

It  is  believed  that  the  question  of  water  supply  is  perhaps  the  most  vital 
of  all  of  those  confronting  the  city.  This  is  true  from  many  standpoints.  Eliz- 
abeth is  inviting  new  industries.  Industries  cannot  get  along  without  water. 
Elizabeth  frequently  has  no  water  to  spare. 

The  electrical  supply  of  Elizabeth  is  furnished  by  the  Public  Service  Cor- 
poration of  New  Jersey  which  has  three  lines  coming  in  from  the  Essex  plant 
and  two  from  its  Perth  Amboy  plant  carrying  13,000-26,000  volts.  There  are 
sub-stations  at  West  Jersey  Street  and  Bayway  having  11,000  kw.  capacity 
besides  railway  equipment.  These  send  out  primary  current  which  at  present 
is  2,400  volt,  two  phase,  and  is  available  over  the  entire  city  except  on  the 
meadows.  The  company  is  now  altering  its  system  to  4,150  volt,  three  phase. 
With  the  completion  of  the  new  200,000  kw.  station  Elizabeth's  power  require- 
ments, as  in  fact  those  of  the  whole  district,  will  be  safeguarded  for  a  consid- 
erable future  time.  The  power  equipment  of  the  district  will  have  stepped 
ahead  of  its  population  growth  and  industrial  development. 

Electric  current  for  house  lighting  sells  on  a  nine-cent  basis.  For  retail 
power,  block  consumption  rates  are  based  on  consumption  in  relation  to  maxi- 
mum demand,  which  latter,  in  turn,  unless  by  agreement  otherwise,  is  based  on 
the  capacity  of  the  connected  load.  There  is  a  minimum  charge  based  on  the 
amount  of  the  bill  in  proportion  to  the  connected  load.  Wholesale  power 
rates  are  made  up  of  a  block  demand  charge  which  is  a  flat  monthly  rate  vary- 
ing with  the  maximum  demand,  plus  a  block  consumption  rate,  the  amount  of 
which  is  based  on  the  amount  of  current  used  in  the  month.  All  power  rates 
have  been  subject  to  a  sliding  scale  differential  varying  with  the  cost  of  coal. 
There  are  about  900  power  meters  in  the  Elizabeth  district.  Those  few  indus- 
tries which  can  take  primary  current  receive  a  five  per  cent,  discount  from  the 
above  rates.  The  cheapest  industrial  power  sold  in  Elizabeth  costs  about  one 
and  three-quarter  cents  per  unit. 

Elizabeth's  street  lighting  system  is  partly  gas  and  partly  electric,  all 
operating  on  an  all-night  schedule.  There  should  be  no  extension  of  gas  light- 
ing into  any  new  areas.  Electric  street  lighting  is  infinitely  to  be  preferred 
from  almost  any  standpoint.  When  the  Elmora-Bayway  route  is  developed  for 
through  traffic,  especially  if  it  be  limited  to  pleasure  traffic,  a  modern  orna- 
mental system  of  lighting  along  that  route  would  give  Elizabeth  increased 
attractiveness  in  the  minds  of  the  many  people  who  would  use  the  route. 

20 


Elizabeth's  gas  supply  is  carburetted  water  gas.  The  plant  has  been  over- 
loaded and  the  pressure  maintained  at  times  only  with  difficulty.  The  present 
gas-making  capacity  with  four  generating  sets  is  6,000,000  cubic  feet  daily. 
The  Elizabeth  plant  supplies  many  other  municipalities  including  Perth 
Amboy.  A  neAv  generating  set  is  to  be  installed  this  year.  This  is  expected  to 
increase  the  daily  capacity  to  10,000,000  cubic  feet.  The  holder  capacity  by  the 
end  of  1923  is  expected  to  be  5,000,000  cubic  feet.  With  these  extensions  the 
continued  service  of  gas  by  a  private  corporation  promises  to  be  satisfactory. 
The  maximum  net  price  of  gas  of  a  legal  standard  of  525  B.  t.  u.  remains 
$1.25. 

Elizabeth's  telephone  service  compares  favorably  with  that  of  other  cities. 
The  delay  in  new  installations,  which  began  in  war  times,  is  still  noticeable. 

Street  transportation  is  in  most  sections  of  the  city  fairly  adequate.  Exist- 
ing trolley  and  bus  lines  cover  the  developed  portion  of  the  city  quite  com- 
pletely excepting  the  sector  lying  between  Westfield  and  Morris  Avenues  and 
extending  out  to  the  city  line.  Here  at  certain  points  the  distance  to  a  trans- 
portation line  is  too  great.  The  adequacy  of  service  is  geographical  rather  than 
operative.  There  is  too  much  crowding  of  both  trolley  cars  and  buses  during 
the  busy  hours,  although  the  36-passenger,  one-man  cars  used  in  the  off  hours 
are  supplemented  by  65-passenger  converted  cars  during  the  rush  hours. 

As  elsewhere  indicated,  the  possibility  of  re-routing  trolley  cars  away 
from  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Broad  Street  arch  should  have  early  and 
careful  study. 

Unused  tracks  should  be  removed  from  the  street  and  surplus  trackage 
eliminated.  Fifth  Street  is  a  notable  example  of  the  condition  referred  to.  The 
track  on  Orchard  Street  is  elsewhere  mentioned  as  an  objectionable  incident 
in  the  development  of  one  of  the  circumferential  traffic  routes. 

New  bus  routes  should  preferably  be  on  streets  not  occupied  by  trolley 
tracks  provided  the  paving  is  suitable.  This  is  not  merely  because  the  Board 
of  Public  Works  has  power  to  establish  routes  not  paralleling  street  railways 
without  the  assent  of  the  Public  Utilities  Commission,  but  also  because  the  city 
will  be  better  served  by  avoiding  the  duplication  of  facilities  which  results 
from  paralleling. 

It  is  believed  that  the  program  of  bus  and  traffic  inspection  should  be 
expanded  and  that  more  comprehensive  attention  should  be  given  to  the  main- 
tenance of  equipment  and  schedules.  More  detailed  and  comprehensive  speci- 
fications for  bus  construction  and  equipment  should  be  gradually  evolved. 
The  costs  of  all  of  these  undertakings  may  properly  be  covered  by  license  fees. 

Fire  Protection 

Conspicuous  even  among  the  good  annual  reports  prepared  by  other 
municipal  departments  is  that  of  the  Fire  Department.  It  is  informative  and 
accurate. 

The  fire  limits  of  the  city  should  be  revised  to  correspond  with  the  zoning 
ordinance.  The  location  of  fire  engine  houses  as  an  important  part  of  city 
planning  should  be  given  considerable  further  study. 


21 


Fire  protection  in  Elizabeth  was  subjected  to  a  critical  review  by  the 
Underwriters  in  the  year  1916.  Many  recommendations  are  made  in  the 
Underwriters'  report.  Some  of  them  are  gradually  being  carried  out.  There 
are  now  two  pipe  lines  connecting  with  the  Newark  water  supply  system,  one 
of  them  of  12-inch  size.  Still  more  adequate  interconnection  is  recommended, 
particularly  as  an  emergency  measure,  pending  a  more  adequate  water  supply 
for  Elizabeth. 

The  inadequate  water  supply  is  the  one  big  handicap  to  proper  fire  pro- 
tection in  the  city.  The  Elmora  section  is  supplied  from  the  Plainfield  Union 
Water  Company.  Under  normal  conditions  proper  pressures  are  realized  there 
but,  throughout  the  rest  of  the  city,  the  pressure  is  inadequate,  the  quantity 
often  inadequate  and  the  underground  mains  many  of  them  old,  leaky  and 
otherwise  inferior.  The  Underwriters  are  now  penalizing  Elizabeth  for  the 
defects  of  supply  in  the  rates  charged  for  insurance.  A  better  water  supply 
will  save  money  by  reducing  the  cost  of  insurance. 

Further  appropriations  for  hydrants  of  the  proper  type  and  for  fire  alarm 
boxes  should  be  provided  until  the  occupied  part  of  the  city  is  fully  protected. 

Police 

The  Police  Department's  annual  reports,  issued  in  typewritten  form, 
are  equally  commendable.  The  street  accident  records,  the  statistics  of  juve- 
nile delinquency  and  the  study  of  traffic  accidents  are  all  in  form  for  consulta- 
tion. Maps  of  police  call  box  locations  are  now  available.  The  problem  of 
traffic  control  is  one  of  steadily  increasing  difficulty,  and  the  police  department 
is  accomplishing  all  that  can  reasonably  be  expected  of  it  until  more  funda- 
mental methods  are  developed  for  handling  street  traffic.  The  Junior  Patrol 
is  now  organized  under  this  department  and  is  doing  efficient  work  in  and 
near  the  street  crossings  adjacent  to  public  school  buildings. 


22 


Elizabeth's  Street  System 


The  City  now  has  under  preparation  a  new  base  map,  i.  e.,  a  general  map 
showing  all  streets  and  roads.  It  is  believed  that  in  preparing  this  map  there 
should  be  omitted  the  large  number  of  "paper"  streets  which  appear  on  the 
existing  map  but  do  not  appear  on  the  ground  and  do  not  fit  in  properly  with 
such  things  as  can  now  be  foreseen.  This  recommendation  does  not  apply  to 
the  so-called  "Commissioners'  streets,"  which  are  used  as  references  in  many 
deeds. 

Naturally  it  is  to  be  expected  that  the  new  base  map  will  properly  indi- 
cate existing  streets  not  shown  on  the  present  base  map.  It  may  also  be 
expected  to  correct  certain  errors  in  street  delineation. 

It  is  believed  that  in  connection  with  the  preparation  of  the  base  map,  or 
soon  thereafter,  an  accurate  and  up-to-date  record  should  be  made  of  streets 
vacated.  This  suggests  the  further  recommendation  that  there  should  be  a 
uniform  procedure  with  respect  to  vacations  and  that  matters  of  this  sort  might 
appropriately  be  referred  to  the  City  Plan  Commission  which  could  be 
expected,  ultimately,  to  evolve  a  general  and  logical  policy. 

In  its  details  Elizabeth's  street  system  is  characterized  by  too  many  long 
blocks  and  too  many  large  blocks.  The  former  in  business  districts  increase 
congestion  and  decrease  ratables.  The  latter  have  no  place  except  in  industrial 
districts  and  lead  to  disorderly  and  objectionable  rear  yard  conditions,  besides 
making  valuations  low  on  an  area  basis.  Some  of  the  largest  and  longest 
blocks  are  close  to  the  center  of  town.  Two  of  them  may  be  mentioned : 

One  of  the  most  notable  of  the  large  blocks  is  that  which  is  bounded  by 
Broad,  East  Grand  and  East  Jersey  Streets  and  Jefferson  Avenue.  The  Broad 
Street  frontage  is  valuable  business  property  and  there  are  important  struc- 
tures, also  of  high  value,  on  East  Grand  and  East  Jersey  Streets;  but  a  large 
part  of  the  interior  of  this  immense  block  is  occupied  by  unimportant  build- 
ings, or  entirely  vacant.  The  block  is  penetrated  from  East  Grand  Street  by 
Drake  Alley  and  this  alley  could  be  extended  by  sacrificing  certain  improve- 
ments, so  as  to  come  out  at  1149-1151  East  Jersey  Street;  but  no  large  accre- 
tion of  values  would  result.  An  effort  has  been  made  to  develop  part  of  the 
interior  of  the  block  for  automobile  parking  use;  but  the  price  (25  cents)  for 
the  parking  privilege  seems  to  be  too  high.  Yet  the  city  needs  outdoor  parking 
space  off  the  streets. 

A  possible  treatment  of  this  block  is  to  cut  a  new  street  through  from 
1202  East  Grand  Street  to  1163-65  East  Jersey  Street  and  to  connect  this  new 
street  by  a  wide  arcade  with  Broad  Street.  Conservatively  estimated,  it  is 
believed  the  assessed  valuations  along  the  frontage  thus  created  would  reach  a 
sum  not  less  than  $200,000.  Values  on  East  Jersey  and  East  Grand  Streets 
would  also  increase.  The  length  of  the  street  would  be  about  500  feet.  Fur- 


23 


A  PRELIMINARY  SCHEME  FOR  MEADOWS  DEVELOPMENT 
This  map  shows  how  a  ship  channel  with  piers,  factory  sites  and  rail  connections  might  develop  on  what  is  now  waste  land.    Elizabeth's  one  opportunity  for  a  larRc  park  of 

its  own  also  occurs  in  this  section. 


ther  attention  should  be  given  this  subject  in  connection  with  the  examination 
of  this  and  other  sites  for  automobile  parking  and  with  the  possibility  of  remov- 
ing trolley  tracks  from  Broad  Street  in  the  vicinity  of  the  arch. 

A  long  block  which  has  been  especially  investigated  for  the  purposes  of 
this  report  exists  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  from  Fairmount  Avenue  to  North 
Avenue.  It  was,  at  one  time,  proposed  to  open  Clinton  Place  from  Newark 
Avenue  to  Pennsylvania  Avenue.  This  would  involve  the  loss  of  improvement 
valuations  and  would  not  split  the  long  block  equally.  A  better  division  line 
would  be  from  662  Pennsylvania  Avenue  to  675  Newark  Avenue,  which 
would  involve  no  improvement  except  a  one-car  private  garage.  The  proposed 
street  would  not  be  directly  opposite  Waverly  Place.  This  is  believed  to  be  an 
advantage.  There  would  be  little  occasion  for  through  traffic  across  Newark 
Avenue,  and,  if  any  such  through  traffic  did  occur,  it  would  be  safer  to  break 
it  at  Newark  Avenue  than  to  shoot  it  directly  across  the  heavy  flow  of  traffic 
on  the  latter  street. 

There  are  many  other  examples  of  these  kinds  which  might  be  examined. 
A  map  has  been  made  showing  the  locations  of  all  excessively  large  or  long 
blocks  and  it  is  proposed  to  consider  each  of  these  in  detail  at  a  later  date. 

Elizabeth's  streets  are  generally  of  fair  width.  A  few  near  the  center  of 
the  city  are  narrow,  but  some  of  these  are  so  short  that  they  will  never  be 
important  traffic  streets.  The  widening  of  Jefferson  Street,  which  is  a  logical 
extension  of  Jefferson  Avenue,  has  been  recommended ;  and  the  widening  of 
the  roadway  of  Union  Street,  which  is  now  completed,  has  intimate  associa- 
tions with  this  proposed  improvement,  as  will  presently  appear. 

Elizabeth's  primary  street  system  resembles  a  complicated  cobweb.  There 
is  an  irregular  focus  near  the  Broad  Street  arch  and  another  at  the  intersection 
of  Elizabeth  Avenue  and  New  Point  Road.  Radial  streets  from  these  two  foci 
are  well  developed,  but  direct  connections  between  sections  like  Elmora,  Eliza- 
bethport,  North  Elizabeth  and  Bayway  are  lacking.  The  City  is  so  fully 
built-up  that  these  connections  must  be  provided  by  circumferential  routes. 
The  connecting  streets  for  the  three  State  highway  routes  all  come  close  to 
the  first  of  the  foci  and  would  actually  involve  it  if  it  were  not  for  the  partial 
circumferential  route  which  has  been  developed.  Route  No.  1  to  Rahway 
carries  the  heaviest  traffic  of  any  route  in  the  three  States  just  outside  the 
metropolitan  nucleus.  The  three  State  highway  radials  split  into  eleven 
branches  within  about  five  miles  of  the  City  limits.  A  tremendous  volume  of 
traffic  goes  out  of  its  way  to  contribute  to  the  congestion  at  Elizabeth's  busi- 
ness center. 

Relief  from  traffic  congestion  necessitates  the  early  provision  of  one  or 
more  adequate  circumferential  routes.  A  possible  first  step  is  an  outer  belt 
utilizing  North  Avenue,  Humboldt  Avenue,  Fifth  Street,  Summer  Street, 
Bayway  and  Elmora  Avenue.  Most  of  this  route  already  exists  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  distance  is  now  paved.  A  short  stretch  will  lie  outside  the  city 
limits. 

An  inner  belt  is  also  possible.  By  utilizing  the  improved  Union  Street, 
very  little  will  remain  to  be  done  in  order  to  complete  an  internal  circle  formed 


26 


by  East  Jersey,  Union  and  Prince  Streets,  Magnolia  Avenue  and  Jefferson 
Avenue. 

While  more  costly  than  either  of  the  foregoing,  a  third  or  intermediate 
belt  may  be  developed  if  the  program  of  street  improvement  fixed  upon  from 
year  to  year  is  appropriately  shaped.  Briefly,  it  involves  Division  Street;  High 
Street,  with  a  new  bridge  at  the  foot  of  High  Street;  Grove  Street,  with  a  new 
undercrossing  at  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  tracks;  Orchard  Street,  if  possible 
with  the  removal  of  the  car  tracks,  and  perhaps  a  widening  east  of  Chilton 
Street;  Prince  Street,  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  Fairmount  Avenue  and  Port 
Avenue. 

Local  traffic  would  find  these  routes  highly  advantageous  and  through 
traffic  could  soon  be  taught  to  use  them. 

Perhaps  not  related  to  any  circumferential  system  but  necessary  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  present  marginal  street,  First  Street  is  now  being  improved  and 
straightened  at  the  bridge  over  the  Elizabeth  river.  This  street  will  connect 
the  Bayway  industrial  section  with  that  of  Elizabethport.  It  will  become 
of  very  great  importance  if  the  proposed  new  bridge  connecting  Elizabeth 
with  Staten  Island  should  be  located,  as  now  contemplated,  alongside  of 
the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  bridge.  This  Commission  favors  a  bridge 
rather  than  a  tunnel  on  economic  grounds  and  it  has  reported  in  favor  of 
the  Bayway  location  rather  than  an  Elizabeth  Avenue  location  on  the  obvious 
ground  that  Elizabeth's  primary  problem  is  to  get  through  traffic  off  of 
her  business  streets  rather  than  to  bring  more  through  traffic  to  them.  A 
reasonably  curved  approach  from  First  Street  to  the  bridge  is  entirely  possible, 
although  the  bridge  would  reach  grade  somewhat  north  of  First  Street. 

Street  nomenclature  in  Elizabeth  is  in  an  unsatisfactory  condition,  there 
being  too  much  of  a  duplication  of  names.  This  subject  is  having  the  attention 
of  the  Board  of  Public  Works.  There  may  be  no  objection  to  giving  a  Place 
or  Court  the  same  name  as  the  Street  or  Avenue  from  which  it  extends,  and  a 
Lane  or  Road  might  be  given  the  same  name  as  a  Street  or  Avenue  of  which 
it  is  the  sole  continuation ;  but,  beyond  this,  we  advise  against  continuing  the 
duplication  of  names.  The  city's  house  numbering  system  is  also  in  a  complex 
and  unsatisfactory  state.  The  irregular  street  system  makes  it  questionable 
whether  any  scheme  of  numbering  will  be  entirely  satisfactory  and  there  is 
always  much  confusion  and  some  expense  when  numbers  are  changed.  It  is 
proposed  next  year  to  make  a  preliminary  study  of  the  subject  so  as  to  ascer- 
tain whether  a  reasonably  satisfactory  plan  is  possible. 

Street  name  signs  have  been  erected  over  about  half  the  city.  Some  of 
the  signs  are  on  buildings,  but  there  are  318  of  the  familiar  separate  standard, 
double  sign  type,  one  being  placed  at  one  of  the  four  corners  at  an  inter- 
section. It  would  require  419  sets  to  cover  all  intersections  of  remaining  paved 
streets.  We  recommend  that  these  be  provided  for,  to  be  installed  over  a  period 
of  two  years,  and  that  in  the  future,  whenever  new  street  paving  is  done,  the 
necessary  number  of  street  name  signs  be  included  as  a  part  of  the  paving 
program.  The  present  type  of  sign  is  believed  to  be  more  practicable  and  satis- 
factory than  any  of  the  ornamental  types  which  have  recently  been  developed. 


27 


Certain  questions  of  street  detail  have  been  considered.  At  the  intersec- 
tion of  Union  Street  and  Westfield  Avenue,  there  is  an  awkward  jog  at  the 
northwest  corner.  This  could  be  straightened  out  and  the  effective  width  of 
Union  Street  preserved  through  the  intersection,  by  taking  over  part  of  one 
improved  lot.  A  final  recommendation  is  deferred  until  the  whole  problem  of 
improvement  at  this  intersection  can  be  studied  comprehensively.  The  same 
course  is  necessary  with  respect  to  the  proposed  straightening  out  of  street 
kinks  at  Union  Avenue  and  Parker  Road,  and  near  Irvington  Avenue  and 
Prince  Street. 

The  present  paving  practice,  employing  granite  block  and  asphalt  concrete, 
is  entirely  satisfactory  and  the  detailed  specifications  and  methods  used  are  well 
worked  out.  Items  of  paving  scheduled  for  priority  in  the  1924  program  are: 
Fairmount  Avenue  eastward,  and  the  road  to  the  almshouse.  Naturally,  some 
part  of  the  paving  necessary  for  the  outer  circumferential  route,  already 
described,  should  form  a  part  of  the  1924  undertakings.  The  next  most  needed 
step  is  a  continuation  of  the  repaving  of  those  streets  now  paved  with  rough 
stone,  but  not  included  in  the  circumferential  route.  As  initial  items,  East 
Jersey  Street,  below  Smith  Street,  the  easterly  end  of  Second  Street,  and  New 
Point  Road,  west  of  Magnolia  Avenue,  are  suggested. 

There  is  now  pending  before  the  Board  of  Public  Works  a  traffic  ordi- 
nance, the  purpose  of  which  is  to  improve  traffic  conditions  in  the  streets.  In 
view  of  the  objection  which  has  been  expressed  to  various  features  of  this  ordi- 
nance, the  City  Plan  Commission  proposes  to  develop  certain  necessary  data 
and,  if  possible,  establish  some  underlying  principles  on  which  there  may  be 
substantial  agreement.  These  studies  will  include  an  analysis  of  parking 
habits  and  conditions.*  It  is  planned  also  to  investigate  every  possible  site  for 
outside  day  storage  of  automobiles  at  low  cost,  close  to  the  center  of  the  city,f 
and  to  study  the  relative  demands  for  parking  and  traffic  in  relation  to  road- 
way widths  on  various  streets.  Since  there  is  some  dispute  as  to  the  value  of 
through  traffic  to  the  merchants  of  Elizabeth,  actual  observation  of  individual 
vehicles  using  each  of  the  State  highway  routes  is  contemplated.  It  is  believed 
that  some  form  of  time-limit  parking  will  continue  to  be  necessary  on  certain 
streets,  and  there  are  methods  of  demonstrated  efficiency  for  simplifying  the 
regulation  and  control  of  such  parking. 

The  number  of  automobile  accidents  on  the  streets  of  the  city  has 
increased  rapidly  during  the  past  four  years;  not  more  rapidly,  it  is  true,  than 
the  number  of  vehicles  has  increased ;  but  the  number  of  accidents  exceeds  that 
which  is  normal  in  a  city  of  Elizabeth's  size. 

*  It  is  understood  that  certain  commuters  park  their  cars  all  day.  In  a  neighboring 
city,  60  per  cent,  of  the  parking  was  found  to  be  by  merchants  and  their  employees  who 
were  most  strongly  opposing  parking. 

t  The  actual  development  of  such  sites  is  not  believed  to  be  properly  a  municipal 
matter.  Perhaps  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  would  undertake  it. 


28 


Railroads 


Elizabeth  has  railroad  facilities  almost  unparalleled,  but  in  certain  points 
of  detail  constructive  action  is  possible.  The  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  for  exam- 
ple, handles  an  overwhelming  proportion  of  team-delivered  freight.  It  has  very 
little  car  lot  business  in  Elizabeth  and,  under  present  conditions,  never  will 
have.  As  soon  as  the  Elizabeth  meadows  exhibit  a  pronounced  industrial  devel- 
opment a  siding  from  the  Pennsylvania  should  be  arranged  for.  This  would 
have  to  leave  the  main  line  at  a  point  outside  the  Elizabeth  city  limits  but  the 
connection  is  perfectly  feasible  at  reasonable  cost  and  would  be  to  the  advan- 
tage of  both  the  railroad  and  the  city. 

Through  the  co-operation  of  the  Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey  a 
complete  analysis  of  inbound  and  outbound  shipments  over  that  line  has  been 
made  available  for  the  calendar  year  1922.  The  data  thus  obtained  are  so 
instructive  that  it  is  believed  a  similar  compilation  of  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
freight  statistics  should  be  made  next  year  even  though  some  of  the  clerical 
work  may  have  been  done  at  the  city's  expense.  The  purpose  in  view  in  this 
analysis,  after  making  due  allowance  for  freight  trucked  in  or  out  of  the  city,* 
is  to  arrive  at  definite  conclusions  with  respect  to  needed  industries  and  retail 
or  wholesale  business  establishments.  For  a  study  of  this  sort  no  more  valuable 
data  could  possibly  be  obtained. 

Elizabeth  has  about  3,000  commuters  and  the  number  is  increasing  rap- 
idly, more  particularly  on  the  Central  Railroad.  The  two  railroads  combined 
operate  the  largest  number  of  passenger  trains  at  any  point  outside  of  Man- 
hattan Island,  with  the  possible  exceptions  of  Flatbush  Avenue  and  Jamaica. 
They  reach  New  York  by  direct  routes,  and  Elizabeth  has  the  cheapest  com- 
mutation, in  proportion  to  its  air-line  distance,  of  any  suburban  community. 
The  demand  for  homes  will  outstrip  that  which  is  naturally  associated  with 
industrial  and  business  development. 

Certain  of  the  railroad  stations,  notably  the  main  station  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad,  have  been  the  scene  of  fatal  accidents  due  to  the  move- 
ment of  through  trains  adjacent  to  platforms  where  people  were  standing. 
Men  or  women  are  killed  every  year  from  this  cause  in  Elizabeth.  Unless 
special  equipment  is  provided  to  keep  people  at  a  suitable  distance  back  from 
the  edge  of  the  platform,  fatalities  are  bound  to  continue.  Methods  should  be 
devised  for  promoting  safety  at  the  platforms  of  the  principal  stations  where 
trains  do  not  stop,  as  a  first  item  of  a  planning  program.  One  way  would  be 
to  widen  the  platform  and  provide  a  fence  with  a  series  of  gates  centrally 
operated.  Passengers  would  be  kept  on  the  safe  side  of  the  fence  until  the 
local  trains  stopped  and  the  gates  would  be  closed  after  such  trains  had  left. 

•Water  shipments  must  also  be  considered,  since  Elizabeth  has  a  daily  packet- 
boat  service  to  New  York. 

29 


Those  who  ride  through  Elizabeth  on  trains  judge  the  city  by  its  railroad 
stations.  The  impression  thus  conveyed  by  the  Elizabethport  station  is  most 
unfavorable.  This  station  needs  immediate  improvement. 

The  Schiller  Street  grade  crossing  and  the  numerous  grade  crossings  in 
the  Elizabethport  section  must  be  corrected  at  the  earliest  possible  date.  Plans 
for  the  elimination  of  these  have  been  under  way  for  a  long  time.  Conditions 
in  Elizabeth  are  now  scheduled  for  early  correction  but  the  depression  of  the 
Central  Railroad  tracks  in  Perth  Amboy  has  been  understood  to  have  priority. 
Certain  questions  have  arisen  which  point  to  the  probability  of  a  considerable 
delay  in  Perth  Amboy.  It  is  thought  that  vigorous  action  at  this  time  might 
possibly  accelerate  the  period  of  grade  crossing  elimination  in  Elizabeth. 

The  Broad  Street  Arch 

No  element  in  city  planning  looms  as  large  in  the  mind  of  the  average 
citizen  as  the  correction  of  conditions  at  the  Broad  Street  railroad  arch. 
Almost  every  bad  feature  that  can  be  imagined  is  exhibited  there  now :  grade, 
curve,  inadequate  roadway  width,  trolleys,  buses  and  the  junction  of  two  rail- 
roads and  seven  streets. 

The  problem  of  rectification  should,  as  a  first  step,  be  reduced  to  its 
lowest  terms.  At  one  time  a  leveling  of  street  grades  was  thought  to  be  essen- 
tial, and  this  would  have  required  an  elevation  of  railroad  tracks  at  points 
where  the  rails  are  already  on  a  summit.  This  levelling  is  no  longer  necessary. 
The  grade  is  not  too  severe  for  motor  traffic. 

From  time  to  time  there  has  been  thought  of  a  more  or  less  compre- 
hensive relocation  of  one  of  the  railroads.  It  is  believed  that  this  thought 
should  be  dismissed,  but  any  possible  relocation  would  involve  enormous 
initial  expense  and  would  augment  rather  than  reduce  railroad  operating  cost. 
Whatever  steps  are  taken  with  respect  to  these  matters,  the  essence  of  the 
problem  is  the  widening  and  straightening  of  Broad  Street,  and  this  should 
be  done  no  matter  what  detailed  steps  are  chosen  as  best  for  the  further 
improvement  of  traffic  conditions.  Moreover,  it  is  believed  that  projects  for 
the  scrapping  of  unattractively  occupied  blocks  in  the  region  need  not  have 
immediate  attention.  The  condition  of  Broad  Street,  just  south  of  the  arch, 
will  automatically  improve  with  improvement  of  the  street. 


31 


Education  in  Elizabeth 


Like  all  cities,  Elizabeth  has  fallen  behind  in  its  school  building  program. 
The  Board  of  Education  has  been  making  herculean  efforts  to  be  in  time  with 
such  new  buildings  as  will  at  least  hold  congestion  in  check  and  permit  of  rea- 
sonable educational  efficiency.  It  is  constantly  faced  with  an  increased  demand 
for  school  buildings,  and  the  program  might  just  as  well  be  planned  now  for 
twenty-five  years  ahead.  The  need  is  certain  to  come.  There  may  be  some 
uncertainty  as  to  its  exact  incidence.  The  studies  of  population,  elsewhere 
recommended  in  this  report,  will  remove  much  of  this  uncertainty;  and  it  is 
essential  in  the  1924  city  planning  program  of  Elizabeth  to  study,  in  co-opera- 
tion with  the  Board  of  Education,  those  school  site  needs  which  will  arise 
during  several  years  to  come.  Requirements,  now  foreseen,  include  a  new 
high  school  and  another  junior  high  school.  The  conversion  of  the  present 
high  school  to  a  junior  high  school,  with  the  development  of  a  much  larger 
high  school  on  a  more  adequate  site,  at  a  distance  from  the  center  of  the  city, 
may  have  to  be  contemplated. 

Future  schools  should  be  in  larger  units  than  those  older  buildings  now 
existing.  A  twelve-room  school  is  not  economical  from  any  standpoint.  Some 
old  schools  will,  before  long,  have  to  be  abandoned.  One  has  just  been  aban- 
doned. In  certain  cases  the  location  of  these  schools,  largely  because  of  the 
inadequacy  of  site,  should  also  be  abandoned.  Much  larger  school  sites  should 
be  provided  in  connection  with  all  future  building.  As  the  school  authorities 
have  pointed  out,  school  distribution  at  the  present  time  is  fair — scarcely  more 
than  that.  Schools  of  adequate  size  might  well  be  farther  apart  in  some  of 
the  Elizabethport  territory;  while  in  other  sections  of  the  city,  schools  are  too 
far  apart  for  best  effectiveness  with  the  lowest  grades. 

The  use  of  temporary,  portable  buildings  should  be  regarded  as  an  emerg- 
ency measure  only,  and  when  permanent  structures  are  to  be  erected,  they 
should  be,  in  general,  of  the  most  permanent  and  substantial  type,  built  for 
long  life.  The  necessity  for  this  arises  from  the  present  high  cost  of  building, 
and  the  wisdom  of  such  a  course  will  depend  absolutely  on  a  proper  selection 
of  future  school  sites. 

All  of  this  bears  on  physical  matters.  There  is  another  point,  physical  in 
its  origin,  the  importance  of  which  is  such  that  more  than  purely  physical 
measures  may  be  required  for  correction.  For  some  years,  Elizabeth's  schools 
have  been  too  largely  on  a  part  time  basis  and  made  up  of  over-sized  classes. 
These  conditions  have  obviously  impaired  the  efficiency  of  school  work.  Cor- 
rection may  be  expected  with  the  enlarged  school  facilities  which  are  made 
available  this  Fall,  but  unless  this  correction  is  notable  and  immediate — per- 
haps even  though  it  be  notable  and  immediate — a  forward  looking  program 
should  be  contemplated.  This  might  include  not  merely  new  school  buildings, 

32 


but  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the  whole  school  situation;  such  a  survey  to  be 
made  by  the  educational  authorities  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  in  its 
physical  aspects,  to  utilize  the  work  being  done  by  the  advisors  of  the  City 
Plan  Commission.  There  are  nearly  30,000  persons  in  Elizabeth  directly  and 
personally  involved  in  this  matter,  and  their  future,  as  well  as  the  future  of 
the  community,  depends  upon  the  effectiveness  of  the  education  furnished  them. 

The  initial  step  toward  junior  high  school  facilities  has  everything  to 
commend  it.  Twenty-eight  per  cent  of  the  children,  between  sixteen  and 
seventeen  years  of  age,  attend  school ;  and  only  eight  per  cent  of  those  between 
eighteen  and  twenty  years  of  age.  There  is  an  abrupt  break  at  the  age  of  high 
school  entrance,  and  this  will  be  bridged  by  the  junior  high  school.  It  will  be 
more  effectively  bridged  if  the  vocational  type  of  training  continues  to  be 
emphasized  and  expanded.  If  there  ever  was  a  city  where  vocational  training 
was  desirable,  it  is  Elizabeth.  It  would  be  scarcely  possible  to  go  too  far  with 
it.  The  economic  training  of  the  young  of  all  origins  and  antecedents  is  a 
direct  step  toward  general  benefit.  Vocational  training  is  good  for  the  voca- 
tion, good  for  the  student,  an  advantage  to  the  employer  and  an  asset  to  the 
city.  This  part  of  the  work  of  the  schools  should  have  more  and  more  atten- 
tion every  year. 


33 


The  Operation  of  the  City 


A  city,  like  a  business  or  an  industry,  has  administrative,  maintenance  and 
construction  departments.  The  three  must  co-ordinate.  City  planning  has 
always  aimed  at  the  co-ordination  of  current  maintenance  and  new  construc- 
tion. It  is  only  recently  that  the  opportunity  for  increased  co-ordination  of 
administrative  operation  with  physical  improvement  has  been  realized. 

The  government  of  Elizabeth  is  a  big  business.  Exclusive  of  schools,  the 
valuation  of  city  properties  aggregates  about  one  and  one-half  million  dollars, 
and  the  annual  municipal  budget  is  over  two  million  dollars.  The  carrying  out 
of  the  city  plan  must  be  the  work  of  the  city  government.  The  organic  laws, 
under  which  that  government  is  conducted,  have  grown  much  as  the  British 
Constitution  grew — by  successive  enactments,  the  full  effects  of  which,  in  their 
correct  relative  proportions,  are  comprehended  by  comparatively  few  citizens. 
These  laws  need  codification,  and  somewhere  there  should  be  a  comprehensive 
and  correct  description  of  how  the  city  operates.  As  a  contribution  toward 
such  a  description,  the  City  Plan  Commission  aims  (in  the  near  future)  to 
prepare  an  organization  chart  of  the  city's  departments  and  personnel,  showing 
derivation  of  authority,  method  of  selection  and  functions.  Such  a  chart  should 
indicate  the  relative  position  of  every  individual  on  the  municipal  payroll,  as 
well  as  the  functioning  of  the  various  unpaid  boards  and  commissions. 

It  is  believed  to  be  pertinent  to  city  planning,  also,  to  give  some  considera- 
tion to  the  accepted  form  of  municipal  government  in  Elizabeth.  This  city  is 
operated,  not  by  a  city  manager  or  a  board  of  commissioners,  but  by  a  Mayor 
and  Council.  As  will  be  shown  more  in  detail  later,  it  is  an  economically  gov- 
erned city. 

The  functioning  of  the  city  is  more  or  less  completely  described  in  the 
annual  reports  of  the  various  municipal  departments.  In  addition,  the  Council, 
the  Board  of  Public  Works  and  the  Board  of  Education  regularly  print  their 
minutes.  Many  of  the  annual  reports  are  admirable  in  their  form  and  scope. 
No  better  reports  are  issued  anywhere  than  those  of  the  Comptroller.  It  is 
believed,  however,  that  much  would  be  gained  by  combining  the  printing  of  all 
annual  reports  in  a  single  volume,  to  be  issued  as  a  municipal  year-book.  If 
possible  to  accomplish  it,  this  issue  should  take  place  at  a  much  earlier  date 
than  that  at  which  annual  reports  are  now  available.  Certain  of  the  latter  this 
year  could  not  be  obtained  until  six  months  after  the  close  of  the  fiscal  period. 

The  local  government  cost,  exclusive  of  schools,  is  $21.28  per  capita  ;  the 
debt,  $32.70;  and  the  assessed  valuation,  $1,080.  These  are  most  gratifying 
figures.  Of  the  nine  cities  in  the  State  having  populations  between  50,000  and 
300,000,  Elizabeth,  in  1921,  had  the  lowest  net  debt  per  capita;  the  lowest 
percentage  of  net  debt  to  assessed  valuation  ;  the  lowest  percentage  expenditure 
for  interest  charges,  and  the  lowest  net  cost  of  city  government.  In  the  seventy- 


34 


six  cities  of  the  United  States,  within  the  50,000  to  100,000  population  class, 
only  nineteen  show  lower  local  governmental  cost  per  capita  than  does  Eliza- 
beth. This  city  was  one  of  the  few  in  New  Jersey  in  which  the  1923  budget 
was  less  than  that  for  1922. 

Elizabeth  must  continue  to  be  economically  governed.  It  is  not  a  rich 
city.  The  assessed  valuation  per  capita  is  comparatively  low.  While  there  was 
a  remarkable  increase  in  building  operations  from  1920-1921-1922,  total  per- 
mits in  the  last  year  aggregating  six  million  dollars,  much  of  this  building 
involved  property  exempt  from  taxation. 

Elizabeth's  whole  scheme  of  assessment  needs  examination.  Assessed  val- 
uations should  be  studied  in  detail,  with  a  view  to  proper  equalization  with- 
out disturbance  of  the  present  total  in  relation  to  the  county  total.  Building 
valuations  should  also  be  scrutinized  and  standard  factors  developed  for  assess- 
ment of  various  types  of  building,  particularly  residence  buildings,  on  the  basis 
of  cubic  contents.  Statistical  investigation  of  assessments,  by  wards,  with  some 
consideration  of  corresponding  building  permits,  should  be  included.  The  city 
needs  a  complete  revaluation  of  industrial  properties  which,  in  the  opinion  of 
this  Commission,  should  be  made  neither  by  local  agencies  nor  by  the  county, 
but  under  the  supervision  of  specialists  who  might  well,  also,  be  called  upon  to 
suggest  to  the  assessors  general  methods  for  the  whole  program  of  assessment. 

Many  of  the  city's  activities  are  now  administered  by  the  Board  of  Public 
Works  which  is,  itself,  constantly  and  constructively  planning  for  the  future 
of  the  city.  The  control  of  private  building  is  now  pretty  well  covered  by  the 
recently  re-issued  building  ordinance  and  by  the  building  zone  ordinance.  The 
latter  has  met  with  general  approval,  has  required  amendment  only  wTith 
respect  to  minor  details,  and  several  proposed  amendments  have  been  defeated. 
A  city  electrical  bureau,  having  charge  of  the  supervision  of  installation  of 
electrical  conductors  and  equipment,  comes  also  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Board  of  Public  Works.  The  City  Plan  Commission  takes  this  opportunity  of 
again  suggesting  the  desirability  of  the  reference  to  it  of  future  sub-division 
plats.  The  city  has  no  adequate  standards  for  platting,  and  complete  standards 
cannot  be  suggested  at  this  time.  A  careful  analysis  of  current  plattings,  with 
some  study  of  those  which  have  taken  place  in  the  last  five  years  and  consid- 
erable attention  to  what  is  generally  accepted  as  good  practice  in  platting,  will 
permit  of  the  development  of  a  program  and  suitable  standards  within  a  com- 
paratively short  time.  The  need  for  this  is  apparent.  Many  streets  in  indus- 
trial sections  have  had  to  be  vacated  because  block  sizes  were  too  small  for 
industrial  occupancy. 

The  need  for  city  planning  usually  arises  from  defects  which  are  physical 
and  geographical  in  their  nature.  Elizabeth  has  enough  of  these  defects,  but 
Elizabeth  has  one  additional  motive  for  comprehensive  city  planning  in  that 
economy  of  expenditure  is,  and  will  continue  to  be,  essential.  The  mere  cur- 
tailing of  disbursements  down  to  a  minimum  standard  of  municipal  living, 
even  if  regarded  as  economical,  is  a  much  less  desirable  course  than  that  type 
of  economy,  that  adaptation  of  means  to  ends,  which  ensues  when  a  long-range 
view  is  taken  and  when  the  whole  problem  is  visualized  for  many  years  to 


35 


come.  This  present  report,  incomplete  as  it  is  with  respect  to  final  recom- 
mendations, will,  it  is  believed,  serve  to  set  up  the  various  terms  and  factors  of 
the  whole  problem.  The  Elizabeth  which  is  planned  in  accordance  with  these 
suggestions  will  be  adequately  planned  and  there  will  be  no  unanticipated 
shocks  to  municipal  revenues  or  borrowing  powers.  What  is  before  us  is 
known.   It  remains  to  estimate  relative  magnitudes  and  orders  of  urgency. 


36 


Can  Elizabeth  Ever  Be  a  City  Beautiful? 


Elizabeth  has  much  that  is  beautiful  now,  much  to  be  proud  of.  It  needs 
certain  specific  things.  It  needs,  perhaps,  a  new  attitude  of  mind  with  respect 
to  certain  things;  but  the  Elizabeth  of  the  future  will  be  an  attractive  city. 

One  of  the  specific  needs,  which  is  most  apparent,  is  that  for  public  parks. 
Elizabeth  is  poor  in  parks.  On  an  acreage  basis,  the  city  compares  unfavorably 
with  most  other  cities.  The  Fay  Woods  property  promises  to  relieve  this  con- 
dition, but  the  plans  of  the  Union  County  Park  Commission  for  a  200-acre 
park  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  just  beyond  the  city  line,  imply  the  necessity  of 
careful  study  to  determine  the  exact  type  of  development  which  will  be  best  for 
Fay  Woods. 

There  are  many  small  parcels  of  city-owned  property  scattered  all  over 
the  city.  On  some  of  these  there  exist  monuments,  many  of  which  are  of 
interest  and  some  of  which  are  of  artistic  or  historic  value.  Other  monuments 
will  be  proposed  from  time  to  time.  Some  of  the  parcels  referred  to  are  bare 
and  unattractive.  The  city  should  establish  the  general  policy  of  treating  dec- 
oratively  all  of  these  tracts.  It  would  be  desirable  to  organize  a  municipal  art 
commission,  separate  from  the  City  Plan  Commission  (one  member  of  which 
might  well  be  a  member  of  the  other),  which  would  have  jurisdiction  over  the 
planting  of  these  tracts  and  the  erection  of  public  monuments  thereon. 

One  of  the  largest  parcels  of  city-owned  property  is  the  Poor  Farm,  which 
covers  fifty-nine  acres,  including  the  isolation  hospital  property.  The  time  may 
come  when  this  tract  will  be  more  needed  for  other  public  purposes  than  those 
which  now  preempt  it. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  park  projects  to  many  people  in  the  city,  is 
that  of  improving  the  Elizabeth  River.  The  river  (including  the  Harrison- 
Price  Street  area)  is  an  eyesore  now  and,  under  present  conditions,  the  river 
could  scarcely  be  made  anything  else  unless  it  were  covered  over;  but  with  a 
new  and  adequate  water  supply,  the  diversion  of  sewage  and  the  possible 
improvement  of  the  channel,  these  conditions  will  disappear  and  it  would  be 
perfectly  feasible  to  develop  an  attractive  strip  along  the  river  above  a  dam 
which  would  be  placed  somewhere  not  very  far  south  of  Broad  Street. 

Considered  as  a  recreation  park  project,  such  a  scheme  would  be  of  only 
minor  value,  because  the  area  involved  would  be  small ;  but  no  single  step 
would  add  more  to  the  beauty  of  the  city ;  and  the  park  value,  although  minor 
and  somewhat  local,  would  be  real. 

The  question  of  a  new  city  hall,  and  perhaps  the  creation  of  a  civic 
center  in  the  vicinity  of  Elizabeth  Avenue  and  Broad  Street,  has  loomed  up 
large  in  any  discussion  of  city  planning.  The  proposed  war  memorial  necessi- 
tates early  consideration  of  this  whole  subject.  It  is  a  very  important  subject. 
Immense  property  valuations  are  involved.  The  aesthetic  considerations  are  of 


37 


prime  importance.  Elizabeth  has  some  splendid  buildings  now,  but  they  are 
without  a  nucleus  or  grouping.  There  are  opportunities  now  existing  for 
admirable  vistas,  but  not  one  of  these  has  been  properly  utilized.  Whatever 
other  subject  must  be  postponed,  it  would  seem  that  the  question  of  construc- 
tion and  grouping  of  needed  new  public  buildings  should  be  one  of  the  first  for 
consideration  next  year.  The  City  Plan  Commission  reserves  for  a  special 
report  its  definite  recommendations  on  this  matter.  This  report  should  prob- 
ably follow  rather  than  precede  its  comprehensive  recommendations  w7ith 
respect  to  street  conditions  at  and  near  the  Broad  Street  arch,  but  the  need 
for  both  at  an  early  date  is  fully  appreciated. 

A  public  comfort  station  near  the  center  of  the  city  has  long  been  needed. 
It  is  not  believed  that  this  should  be  located  on  the  strip  along  Broad  Street 
south  of  Caldwell  Place.  That  strip  may  enter  into  a  much  more  compre- 
hensive plan  within  a  year  or  two.  Meanwhile,  it  might  well  be  used  for 
purposes  equally  necessary  but  involving  less  commitment  in  the  way  of  per- 
manent equipment.  It  is  recommended,  however,  that  a  comfort  station  be 
erected  at  the  rear  of  the  present  city  hall  and  that,  at  this  point,  there  be  pro- 
vided check  rooms,  telephones  and  other  appropriate  facilities.  A  study  should 
be  made  at  once  of  other  desirable  locations. 

Nothing  that  the  city  can  buy  or  build  will  give  so  much  beauty  for  so 
little  money  as  shade  trees  on  the  streets.  The  city  is  aware  of  its  assets  of  this 
kind.  There  is  a  shade  tree  ordinance  and  tree  conservation  has  not  been 
neglected.  New  planting  is  necessary,  especially  toward  the  northeast.  It  is 
recommended  that  a  shade  tree  commission  be  organized  and  that  one  member 
of  such  commission  be  also  a  member  of  the  City  Plan  Commission.  The  Shade 
Tree  Commission  should  have  jurisdiction  over  all  street  plantings,  including 
sidewalk  grass  strips,  which  are  important  from  a  practical  as  well  as  from  an 
aesthetic  standpoint,  and  which  are  now,  in  many  parts  of  the  city,  in  con- 
spicuously bad  condition.  Such  Shade  Tree  Commission  might  well  devise 
means  for  planting,  replanting  and  proper  maintenance  of  these  grass  strips, 
•stimulating  competition  among  residents  and  school  children.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  as  time  goes  on,  there  will  be  less  and  less  stone  sidewalk  construction  and 
that  the  four-foot  standard  cement  sidewalk  of  the  city  engineer's  department 
may  eventually  become  universal  in  the  residence  districts.  Sidewalk  repairs 
are  too  much  a  current  feature  of  the  city's  work  at  the  present  time. 

The  proper  development  of  playgrounds  for  the  city  may  add,  and  should 
be  made  to  add  to  its  physical  beauty  while,  at  the  same  time,  promoting  the 
even  more  important  object  of  conserving  the  health,  virility  and  competence 
of  its  citizens  in  the  next  generation.  The  per  capita  cost  of  playground  opera- 
tion last  year  was  only  about  four  cents.  School  playgrounds  are  generally 
inadequate.  Elizabeth  needs  and  needs  at  once  a  program  of  expansion  for 
recreation  appropriations  running  two  or  three  years  ahead.  Appropriations 
must  be  much  more  liberal  than  they  have  been  if  the  city  is  to  occupy  a 
respectable  rank  in  this  important  matter.  There  are  ways  of  providing  space 
for  playgrounds  without  heavy  capital  investment  and  these  ways  should  be  used 
to  the  utmost.  The  provision  of  facilities  for  playgrounds  will  require  money; 


38 


and  more  money  will  be  needed  for  their  proper  operation  and  maximum  use- 
fulness; although  present  playground  practice  involves,  to  an  increasing  extent, 
a  large  measure  of  co-operation  in  their  control  and  administration  by  unpaid 
volunteer  agencies. 

Certain  parts  of  the  program  of  the  present  Recreation  Commission  merit 
strong  endorsement.  Among  these  there  should  be  mentioned  the  proposed 
acquisition  of  the  water  company's  tract  on  Westfield  Avenue  to  insure  the 
permanence  of  the  swimming  pool ;  the  use  of  the  Seventh  Ward  Oval  for 
purposes  other  than  skating;  and,  if  a  reasonable  price  can  be  agreed  upon,  the 
purchase  of  the  Clark  Club  property. 

In  planning  more  comprehensively  for  playground  space,  a  desirable  step 
is  to  study  the  incidence  of  juvenile  delinquency  (or  incorrigibility,  as  it  is 
termed  by  the  local  police  department).  The  data  for  this  have  been  assem- 
bled and  it  is  believed  the  mapping  will  show,  as  elsewhere,  a  negative  corre- 
lation between  playground  location  and  juvenile  delinquency.  If  this  be  true, 
the  same  delinquency  map  will  point  out  desirable  locations  for  future  play- 
grounds. There  are  several  possibilities  and  certain  necessities  in  the  matter. 
A  playground  site  for  small  children  is  urgently  needed  in  the  Elmora  region 
and  one  should  be  selected  next  year.  When  the  city  outgrows  its  present  city 
yard,  or  when  it  can  afford  to  move  therefrom,  that  property  would  make  a 
well-located  park  or  playground. 

Playground  specialists  recognize  several  types  of  play  area.  There  is  the 
small  play  lot  of  6,000  to  10,000  square  feet  area.  Next  comes  the  neighbor- 
hood playground  of  one  to  six  acres.  Elizabeth  has  one  of  the  latter  and  several 
of  the  former,  including  the  school  playgrounds.  One  of  the  first  needs  is  for 
more  of  the  second  type.  More  advanced  practice  calls  for  district  play- 
grounds of  two  to  twenty  acres  and  recreation  parks  of  from  five  acres  upward. 
These  can  scarcely  be  deleveloped  within  the  city  limits  unless  on  the  meadows 
area.  The  still  larger  "play  reservation"  will  never  be  possible  within  the 
present  city  limits  and  the  best  chance  of  adding  any  such  area  to  Elizabeth's 
recreation  facilities  will  be  through  the  Union  County  Park  Commission. 


59 


Waste  Lands  in  the  City  of  Elizabeth 


Meadows 

The  meadows  cover  an  area  of  3.67  square  miles  and  have  a  water 
frontage  of  12,400  feet.  The  soil  elevation  is  about  that  of  mean  high 
water.  There  is  one  railroad  and  one  railroad  siding.  There  are  no  streets, 
and  all  but  a  very  small  part  of  the  area  is  waste  land  inhabited  by  mosquitoes. 
Most  of  this  land  is  assessed  at  $100  per  acre.  Rising  out  of  the  middle  of  the 
meadows  is  Great  Island,  a  small  patch  of  dry  upland  covering  six  acres.  The 
water  of  Newark  Bay,  adjacent  to  the  meadows  tract,  is  exceedingly  shoal — 
the  average  distance  to  one  fathom  depth  being  about  one-half  mile. 

Close  to  the  upland,  the  meadows  soil  is  peat,  four  or  five  feet  deep.  A 
larger  area  out  beyond  this  is  a  mixture  of  peat  and  blue  mud,  somewhat 
deeper ;  and  a  still  larger  area  extending  beyond  the  latter  to  the  waterfront  is 
blue  mud  of  twelve  or  fourteen  foot  depth.  Below  these  layers,  the  subsoil  is 
variable  in  holding  power,  and  in  some  parts  piles  must  be  driven  30  feet  to 
secure  good  bearing.  Pile  foundations  ordinarily  add  five  to  ten  per  cent,  to 
the  cost  of  building.  The  meadows  soil  shrinks  when  drained,  being  saturated 
and  compressible. 

The  entire  meadows  frontage  of  all  municipalities  on  Newark  Bay  has 
been  especially  examined.  Two-thirds  of  the  shore  line  is  unimproved,  the 
balance  having  bulkheads  or  wharves.  Seventy-three  per  cent,  of  the  lands 
immediately  behind  the  shore  are  vacant,  the  balance  being  occupied  by  fac- 
tories, with  a  very  small  amount  of  shipping. 

All  of  this  land  can  be  made  suitable  for  occupancy  by  covering  it  with 
hydraulic  fill  to  a  depth  of  about  six  feet.  This  would  cost  about  $2,600  per 
acre  and  would  incidentally  afford  navigable  channels. 

The  experience  of  Newark  indicates  that  the  provision  of  street  facilities, 
wharves,  etc.,  will  more  than  double  this  cost,  and  that  the  complete  develop- 
ment of  a  tract  of  meadow  lands,  even  with  a  very  simple  and  modest  street 
system,  will  involve  an  expenditure  of  about  $6,000  per  acre.  If  no  alloAvance 
is  made  for  fill  derived  from  the  dredged  channel  to  deep  water,  the  cut  chan- 
nel through  the  meadow  lands,  if  thirty  feet  deep,  will  give  sufficient  fill  for 
lands  on  each  side  of  such  channel  to  a  width  two-thirds  greater  than  the 
width  of  the  channel;  thus  a  600  foot  channel  would  give  fill  for  1,000  foot 
strips  on  each  side.  Taken  in  connection  with  other  considerations  mentioned 
below,  this  suggests  that  the  most  appropriate  place  for  a  channel  penetrating 
the  Elizabeth  meadows  would  be  about  1,000  to  1,200  feet  north  of  the  line 
of  North  Avenue. 

The  possibility  of  maritime  development  seems  to  hinge  mainly  on  the 
point  that  steamships  could  interchange  freight  directly  with  railroad  cars, 
without  any  necessity  for  either  lighterage,  or  transportation  through  the  con- 


4(1 


gested  metropolitan  district.  Not  too  much  should  be  expected  in  this  direc- 
tion. It  is  well  established  that  ocean  steamers  will  insist  on  berthing  on  Man- 
hattan Island  or  very  near  Manhattan  Island.  Cargo  coasters,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  keenly  interested  in  railroad  interchange  facilities.  They  are  not 
particularly  productive  of  business  to  the  section  in  which  the  docks  are  located 
and  they  will  continue  to  find  the  Central  Railroad  bridge  objectionable. 

The  meadows  area  would  furnish  excellent  factory  sites,  especially  for 
very  large  industries  which  need  ample  space.  Such  industries,  in  many  cases, 
are  willing  to  conduct  their  own  development  work.  The  small  industries 
likely  to  go  into  a  rental  building  of  the  Bush  Terminal  type  would  not  be 
particularly  attracted  by  the  Elizabeth  location  under  present  conditions.  A 
few  (mostly  heavy)  industries  find  a  combination  of  rail  and  water  frontage 
highly  desirable.  For  these  the  Elizabeth  meadows  might  afford  the  best  possi- 
ble location.  There  is,  however,  plenty  of  territory  zoned  for  industrial  pur- 
poses throughout  the  metropolitan  district.  The  question  before  Elizabeth 
is  essentially  whether  approximately  1,000  acres  can  be  disposed  of  at  a  cost 
upward  of  $6,000  per  acre.  The  answer  seems  to  be  in  the  affirmative.  It  is 
understood  that  lands  adjacent  to  Port  Newark  are  being  leased  on  the  basis 
of  $12,000  per  acre  valuation.  This  seems  to  be  about  equal  to  the  highest 
industrial  land  value  realized  in  Elizabeth.  The  question  of  possible  intrusion 
of  nuisance  industries  which  might  debar  the  very  large  and  very  desirable  type 
of  industry  should  be  considered. 

Shipping  and  rail  transportation  conditions  in  the  metropolitan  district 
are  in  a  state  of  flux.  There  have  been  recent  important  changes  and  many 
more  are  promised  or  projected.  The  Stapleton  Piers  can  be  very  largely 
expanded  if  desired.  Brooklyn's  shore  front  is  largely  undeveloped.  The  Nar- 
rows freight  and  passenger  tunnel,  the  proposed  tunnel  from  Greenville  to  Bay 
Ridge,  and  the  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement,  with  a  possible  canal  to  Flushing 
Bay,  are  plans  now  concretely  before  the  public.  Bayonne  has  a  marine  and 
industrial  development  plan.  Nevertheless,  Port  Newark  is  undergoing  modest 
expansion. 

There  is  a  possibility  of  a  park  development  of  a  small  portion  of  the 
meadows,  which  might  cost  the  city  nothing.  Such  a  park  project  has  been 
considered  by  the  Union  County  Park  Commission  and  investigated  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Plan  of  New  York  and  its  Environs,  now  being  made  by  the 
Russell  Sage  Foundation.  The  park  would  be  of  a  resort  type  and  should 
preferably  be  east  of  the  Central  Railroad,  Newark  Branch,  and  not  very  far 
from  the  Central  Railroad  shops.  The  site  should  be  100  acres  or  more  and 
the  best  approaches  would  be  via  Schiller  Street  or  Fourth  Street,  and  an 
extension  of  North  Avenue.  This  matter  will  involve  much  detailed  study. 

A  street  development  program  should  include  the  improvement  of  Neck 
Lane  and  Humboldt  Avenue  as  first  steps,  implying  regional  action  with  the 
City  of  Newark  under  which  that  city  would  improve  Haynes,  Carnegie  and 
Evergreen  Avenues.  This  complete  link  might  form  the  first  step  in  a  State 
Highway  detour  route  which  would  keep  entirely  away  from  the  congested 
part  of  Newark.  In  connection  with  Monroe  Avenue,  Elizabeth,  it  would  also 

41 


relieve  the  traffic  now  using  Newark  Avenue.  An  under-crossing  at  Fourth 
Street,  for  a  street  which  would  parallel  the  Central  Railroad  Newark  Branch, 
out  to  the  approximate  line  of  Fairmount  Avenue,  and  would  then  cross  under 
that  branch  so  as  to  reach  the  park  above  discussed,  would  also  be  necessary. 
After  crossing  to  the  east  side  of  the  Newark  Branch,  this  highway  should  be 
connected  with  the  street  which  the  City  of  Newark  is  now  building  south- 
ward from  Port  Newark.  In  the  case  of  all  street  work  on  the  meadows,  it  is 
desirable  that  foundation  material  should  be  spread  at  an  early  date  and 
allowed  to  settle.  A  rather  narrow  street  which  would  not  require  this  pre- 
liminary work  could  at  once  be  built  along  the  line  of  the  old  Causeway  to 
Great  Island.  With  such  a  street  and  with  its  existing  rail  connections,  it  is 
believed  that  this  property  would  be  worth  at  last  $20,000  for  industrial  pur- 
poses. The  assessed  valuation  is  now  less  than  $1,000. 

As  to  rail  connections,  any  comprehensive  plan  should  involve  a  siding 
from  the  Pennsylvania  and  Lehigh  Valley  Railroads,  paralleling  Neck  Lane 
and  Humboldt  Avenue  on  the  east  and  at  such  a  distance  therefrom  as  to  make 
easy  undercrossings  of  transverse  streets  practicable.  At  a  much  later  date,  if 
the  plans  of  the  Port  of  New  York  Authority  are  carried  out,  a  spur  from 
the  outer  belt  line  will  enter  the  meadows  near  the  northern  city  boundary  and 
connect  with  the  Central  Railroad  Newark  Branch.  The  western  terminus 
of  this  spur  will  be  at  Springfield,  through  which  the  main  outer  belt  from 
New  Brunswick  to  Piermont-on-Hudson  will  pass. 

In  this  day  of  bus  transportation,  the  question  of  getting  to  and  from  the 
developed  meadows  areas  will  almost  take  care  of  itself.  There  is  ample  room 
for  housing  development  on  the  western  edge  of  the  meadows  and,  with  the 
filling  of  meadow  lands,  conditions  will  so  improve  that  the  locality  will  cease 
to  be  objectionable  for  housing. 

Elizabeth  River 

The  flats  along  the  river  are  infested  by  mosquitoes  and  the  river  itself 
contaminated  by  sewage.  The  latter  condition  is  soon  to  be  remedied  and  both 
conditions  are  easily  remediable.  Occasional  floods  at  the  river  will  be  here- 
after prevented  if  the  channel  is  adequately  improved. 

Nearly  one-half  the  Elizabeth  River  flats  consist  of  land  suitable  for 
immediate  building,  but  the  large  tracts  within  this  portion  of  the  area  have 
no  rail  or  river  frontage.  Any  thoroughgoing  development  implies  filling. 
The  pending  project  of  the  Government  for  the  improvement  of  the  river  is 
altogether  trivial  from  the  standpoint  of  producing  hydraulic  fill.  It  would 
be  a  much  better  scheme  for  Elizabeth  to  contemplate  a  wider  and  deeper 
channel  than  that  proposed  by  the  Government  engineers,  securing  Govern- 
ment funds  and  co-operation  as  far  as  possible,  but  planning  for  a  quantity  of 
dredging  which  would  suffice  completely  to  fill  the  areas  now  in  need  of  fill. 
This  would  probably  involve  a  straightening  of  much  of  the  course  of  the 
stream  below  the  Baltic  Street  Bridge.  Present  foundation  conditions  on  the 
river  flats  vary  from  those  which  are  excellent  on  the  better  portion  of  the 


43 


higher  and  older  fill  to  some  which  are  as  bad  as  on  the  meadows.  An  ade- 
quate program  of  filling  will  correct  this  and,  with  improved  access  to  the 
river  area  by  means  of  Baltic  Street,  Amboy  Avenue,  Trenton  Avenue  and 
Garden  Street,  probably  with  a  bridge  at  the  foot  of  Garden  Street,  good 
industrial  sites  will  be  created  to  which  sidings  can  be  run  from  the  Long 
Branch  Railroad.  The  cost  of  improvement  here  will  probably  be  somewhat 
less  per  acre  than  in  the  meadows  area  because  the  amount  of  street  creation 
involved  is  very  much  less.  On  the  other  hand,  the  amount  of  bulkheading 
necessary  is  considerably  greater. 

Recommendations 

While  there  may  be  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  possibility  of 
accurately  appraising  the  promise  of  maritime  development  along  the  Newark 
Bay  frontage  of  the  city  of  Elizabeth,  this,  fortunately,  does  not  enter  into  the 
case.  For  any  use  whatever  to  be  made  of  the  meadows,  they  must  be  filled. 
The  only  economical  method  of  fill  is  by  dredging.  Hence,  whether  we  want 
them  or  not,  dredged  channels  will  be  created.  Moreover,  to  retain  the  fill, 
bulkheading  is  essential,  and  the  bulkhead  is  a  first  step  toward  maritime 
facilities. 

The  problem  of  meadows  development  may  be  approached  with  con- 
siderable certainty  if  the  primary  effort  is  to  create  factory  sites.  The  map 
incorporating  the  recommendations  forecasted  in  the  above  discussion,  repre- 
sents the  judgment  of  the  Commission  as  to  what  may  reasonably  be  expected 
in  the  way  of  a  comprehensive  plan  of  meadows  development.  This  map  does 
not  undertake  to  plot  new  streets  other  than  the  primary  highways  necessary — 
it  being  the  belief  of  the  Commission  that  complete  street  planning  would  be 
premature.  It  is  not  recommended  that  all  of  the  undertakings  here  shown 
be  inaugurated  immediately.  It  is  not  contemplated  that  all  of  them  will  need 
to  be  done  by  the  city.  The  channel  and  bulkheads,  and  the  development  of 
Fourth  Street,  Fairmount  Avenue  and  North  Avenue  are  believed  to  be  appro- 
priate initial  steps.  It  would  seem  to  be  the  function  of  the  city  in  this  matter 
to  limit  litself  as  far  as  it  can  to  the  creation  of  opportunity,  i.  e.,  it  should 
afford  the  facilities  necessary  for  the  development  of  the  meadows  area.  If 
private  enterprise  will  then  build  piers,  erect  a  manufacturing  terminal  building 
or  buy  or  lease  land  for  factory  sites,  well  and  good.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  use  of  the  city's  credit  is  necessary  to  carry  out  such  undertakings,  Eliza- 
beth will  have  to  go  a  step  farther,  and  if  it  dislikes  going  into  the  business  of 
detailed  promotion,  it  may  adopt  methods  by  which  ownership  and  regulation 
will  vest  with  the  city  but  under  which  the  advantages  of  private  management 
and  operation  are  possible. 

The  meadows  matter  might  as  well  be  viewed  as  the  opportunity  for  a 
$6,000,000  investment  which  might  fairly  be  expected  to  pay  its  way  within 
about  10  years.  Even  though  this  period  could  be  shortened  it  is  doubtful 
whether  this  is  just  the  moment  to  invest.  There  is  a  general  feeling  that 
large  public  works  should  be  undertaken  when  labor  is  plentiful.  In  a  project 


44 


of  the  sort  here  contemplated  the  initial  cost  is  overwhelmingly  the  important 
factor  in  determining  whether  an  ultimate  profit  or  an  ultimate  loss  will 
result.  It  seems  possible  that  at  some  time  within  the  next  ten  years  construc- 
tion labor  will  be  more  plentiful  and  probably  cheaper  than  at  present. 
Meadows  development  could  best  be  started  at  a  time  when  there  were  many 
unemployed  men  in  Elizabeth. 

Special  legislation  is  necessary  for  the  city  to  undertake  meadows  develop- 
ment. The  power  to  condemn  property  for  public  uses  does  not  extend  suffi- 
ciently far  to  enable  the  city  to  acquire  vacant  lands  only  remotely  and  perhaps 
conjecturally  related  to  a  proposed  ship  canal.  If  the  theory  of  meadows 
development  is  a  sound  one  the  benefits  resulting  therefrom  would  be  general 
benefits.  Nevertheless  the  project  should  not  be  financed  by  general  taxation 
because  certain  individual  owners  will  benefit  immensely.  A  fair  plan  would  be 
the  creation  of  an  assessment  district.  Lands  in  this  district  should  bear  a 
large  proportion  of  the  cost  of  development.  The  legislation  necessary  to 
authorize  this  or  some  other  method  of  financing  should  be  inaugurated  at 
once.  Under  such  legislation  the  city  would  have  the  power  to  fill  lands  and 
assess  those  lands  for  the  benefits  conferred.  Meanwhile  the  city  should 
acquire  all  ungranted  riparian  lands  and  should  bulkhead  them  so  that  any 
fill  derived  from  dredging  operations  in  Newark  Bay  might  be  placed  there 
by  the  dredging  contractor.  The  bulkhead  could  be  built  of  sheet  piling  faced 
with  rock  fill.  The  lands  created  would  be  leased  for  either  wrater  commerce 
or  industrial  business.  In  either  case,  the  tenant  could  construct  an  apron 
extending  out  from  the  bulkhead,  if  such  a  structure  were  required.  As  addi- 
tional lands  were  needed,  the  canal,  or  perhaps  more  than  one  canal,  could 
be  dredged  out  and  the  fill  deposited  thereon.  The  whole  meadows  area  should 
at  once  be  reappraised  and  the  city  should  adopt  the  policy  of  taking  over,  at 
tax  sale,  all  meadow  lands  on  which  taxes,  based  on  the  new  appraised  value, 
remain  unpaid. 


45 


The  Next  Step  in  City  Planning  tor 

Elizabeth 


There  are  various  "ways  of  building  a  city  plan.  The  economical  way  of 
proceeding  is  the  comprehensive  way.  Sample  undertakings  are  costly.  Every 
sample  of  planning  involves  going  back  to  fundamental  data  and  necessitates 
co-ordination.  Unless  the  fundamental  data  are  fully  assembled  and  analyzed 
and  unless  a  general  co-ordination  has  been  effected,  time  and  money  are 
wasted.  Co-ordination,  in  fact,  is  the  essence  of  city  planning.  It  should  be 
insisted  on  first  of  all  and  all  the  time.  This  implies  a  resisting  of  the  impulse 
to  produce  sample  results ;  not  merely  because  they  cost  excessively,  but  also 
because  they  are  likely  to  be  partial  results  and  may  be  incorrect  results. 

The  next  step  in  planning  for  Elizabeth  should  be  a  comprehensive  city 
plan.  Such  a  plan  superimposed  on  the  preliminary  studies  already  made  can 
be  prepared  in  either  one  or  two  years  more.  Probably  two  years  would  be  the 
strategic  duration. 

1923 

The  work  for  the  balance  of  this  year  would  include  a  detailed  study  of 
present  and  future  population  distribution  and  a  partial  analysis  of  traffic 
problems  with  particular  reference  to  the  pending  traffic  ordinance. 

1924 

The  principal  work  of  next  year  should  be  the  organization  of  all  of  the 
data  already  derived  and  the  completion  of  statistical  studies  elsewhere  sug- 
gested. The  traffic  studies  of  1923  should  be  continued  and  completed,  includ- 
ing the  whole  question  of  possible  reroutings  of  trolley  cars  and  a  comprehen- 
sive scheme  for  the  handling  of  traffic  throughout  the  city  as  well  as  in  and 
near  the  Broad  Street  arch.  As  a  minor  item  a  revision  of  the  fire  limits  should 
be  included.  The  year  should  witness  the  development  of  a  standard  practice 
with  respect  to  land  subdivisions  and  street  vacations.  Definite  recommenda- 
tions should  also  be  made  with  respect  to  the  new  city  hall  and  civic  center, 
and  a  comprehensive  examination  should  be  given  the  whole  subject  of  grade 
crossings. 

1925 

All  of  the  remaining  topics  of  the  plan  should  be  rounded  up  during  the 
final  year,  including  parks  and  playgrounds,  a  detailed  program  for  school 
sites  and  school  buildings,  the  completion  of  the  street  program,  detailed 
recommendations  with  respect  to  street  lighting,  the  planning  of  bus  routes  and 
the  control  of  buses,  some  study  and  recommendations  with  regard  to  housing, 
and  an  investigation  to  determine  what  business  and  industrial  establishments 
are  most  needed  in  Elizabeth. 

46 


V»ell   paved  directs 

Sheets  requiring  pavement  coostroctroo  or  renewal 
Struts  jorm.nf  port  o|  Stote    M.^hwoy  Routes 


POSSIBILITIES  OF  A  CIRCUMFERENTIAL  STREET  SYSTEM. 
The  improvement  of  traffic  conditions  must  depend  largely  on  the  development  of  streets  which 
do  not  intersect  the  busy  hubs.   The  map  shows  how  three  circumferential  routes 
are  possible  at  varying  distances  from  the  principal  hub. 


ELIZABETH'S  RADIAL  STREET  SYSTEM. 
Elizabeth  has  nine  important  radial  streets  of  which  all  but  one  are  fully  developed;  three 
of  the  nine  are  local  streets,  while  the  others  connect  with  important  through  streets. 
Elizabeth  has  two  hubs;  one  at  the  Broad  Street  arch  and  the  other  at  Union  Square. 


